Teaching from the Mountainside - Pt. 5

[Jesus said] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6 ESV).

 

In 1960, R. J. “Bob” Lee opened The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo Texas on Route 66, the “Mother Road”. Its distinctive architecture soon became recognized across the Mother Road as a good stopping place for great steaks grilled over an open flame. It was always a must stop for us when we traveled west in years gone by. Perhaps the most audacious fact about the Big Texan is the “Steak Challenge.” They have a 72 ounce steak served grilled to request that is free if it can be entirely eaten by one person in a sitting, which is defined by their rules as two hours! I saw someone take that challenge once. It was not my description as a “feast”! That was torture!

 

Interestingly enough, the motivation for winning the steak challenge is not the free food. It is the approval of being a winner. Many of us are hungry for such approval. We want our parents to tell us they are proud of us. We want our employer’s stamp of approval on our work. We want our friends to think we are good enough for them. Deep down, this longing for acceptance comes from a longing to be found right in God’s eyes. We are hungry for righteousness.

 

Sadly, we often try to satisfy our hunger by a willingness to compromise our convictions. We want to prove ourselves through our job so badly that we burn out on our career, sacrificing our family and our health. We want so badly to be morally acceptable that we build our lives on a system of rules, looking down on others and sinking into despair when even we don’t measure up. These foods cannot satisfy our hunger for true righteousness.

 

Later in his ministry, Jesus illustrates how he satisfies hungry hearts. “I am the bread of life,” he says. “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). Jesus offers us his own righteousness, and God credits us with it (even though we don’t deserve it) so that we can enjoy the acceptance and approval we long for (cf. Romans 3:21-26; 5:6-11). Are you feeding on the food that satisfies your deepest longings? You can… and “you will be satisfied” (v. 6).