One Bible scripture that really helped me at the baby stage of my Christian life is this;
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled”.
This made me know that whatever I wanted spiritually depended on me; it was all in my hand, so I could not hold GOD for not being able to provide what I “need”. It is left for any born-again Christian to grow and develop spiritually; we sometimes think GOD will just supernaturally put some kind of fire for us without asking for it. You need to understand that Yes, GOD has made some things readily available for you but He expects an action from you, He expects you to get on your feet and ask Him to give you what you want for your spiritual race, the things of the spirit you desire to have.
Well, I think I should let us know that there is a difference between want and need. Follow me…Want is the opposite of need. It means it’s not really a necessity but what you wish to possess. A need is a necessity. It is important and essential you possess it. What I see from the Bible passage is the combination of both but the dominance of “want”. I will explain.
Let us read Matthew 5:6 carefully this time around and take note of every word.Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
What Jesus is talking about here is your level of desire. He is talking about how much you want righteousness, how bad do you really desire and crave for this thing? Have you seen when people talk about a particular thing, like a material object, let’s say a particular designer’s shoe or a very beautiful attractive gown, what makes them not to possess that thing at that time is lack of funds but their heart is there, they desire to have it among their cloth collections.
It is what they want because there is something about it that catches their eye, attention. Now that is a want but coincidentally that is also a need because clothing is a part of man’s basic needs. Like I said the want of a new outfit can coincidentally be a need and that is why I said Matthew 5:6 is talking about your want and need of righteousness. Now every man needs cloth, every human being needs cloth to cover their nakedness now you see that there is a purpose for for needing clothes.
It is first so that man can be covered, so it has gone passed being just a want it is also a need; so as every Christian needs righteousness. I will give us another example to further fortress our understanding of desire and need.
A man that is hungry needs to eat but he also wants to eat. He begins to look for what to eat because his body system needs to digest something in order to be balance and regain strength. Like the old saying goes: a hungry man is an angry man. That is how a Christian who desires righteousness, who desires to be filled with power, gifts of the spirit, holiness is supposed to act.
You are angry until you have been given that thing you want. One can be hungry but he just doesn’t have appetite to eat (I guess that has happened to you before), the same way a Christian man needs righteousness and the fruits of the spirit but he doesn’t want it. Want makes you need it.
GOD wants you to want it, it shouldn’t just be because you need it, it should also be because you want to be filled because your heart itself craves for righteousness. And GOD promises to fill us but there can’t be a filling if there is no thirst and hunger in you.
Like I always tell you GOD loves you, you need to be righteous (with the help of the Holy Spirit, and that is why there is need to thirst for it because He then sends the Holy spirit to work in our lives by daily leading and directing us). Until a man is filled that man doesn’t rest, until GOD answers that man, GOD and that man will keep struggling like the way Jacob struggled with GOD.
GOD wants men like that in this present generation. Many of us desire riches than the things of GOD, let’s retrace our steps and think on way we need righteousness then begin to desire it. Ask GOD to fill you, HE is not a wicked Man.