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Hunger Blog.001

Jesus tells us that the blessed life is a life of hunger and thirst (Matthew 5:6). But not just any hunger or thirst—a hunger and thirst for righteousness. This is not something that comes naturally to us. It's natural for us to nibble on the world and be so full that there's just no room for the things of God. But Jesus calls us to a better way of living. A way that seeks first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. 

Here are some great quotes on hungering and thirsting for the things of God:

“We have become satisfied with mere church, mere religious exertion, mere numbers and buildings—the things we can do. There is nothing wrong with these things, but they are no more than foam left by the surf on the ocean of God’s glory and goodness.” — Ben Patterson, Deepening Your Conversation With God

"Most Christians are satisfied living as common Christians, without an insatiable hunger for the deeper things of God." — A.W. Tozer

“If you don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.” ― John Piper, A Hunger For God

"Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren’t satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for something more, something other." — Ann Voskamp

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. That, in the end, is the reason we do not pray more than we do. Nothing less than infinite joy is offered us in God’s kingdom of light. He has promised that we will one day shine like the sun in that kingdom (Matthew 13:43).” ― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses

"Tolerate nothing in your life that might diminish your hunger for God's word." — Sam Storms

"The Lord Jesus calls those blessed who hunger and thirst after righteousness. He means those who desire above all things to be entirely conformed to the mind of God. They long not so much to be rich, or wealthy, or learned, as to be holy. Blessed are all such! They shall have enough one day. They shall 'awake up after God's likeness and be satisfied,' (Psalm 17:15)." — J.C. Ryle

Click Here to Listen to a Sermon from Matthew 5:6—The Hungry and the Thirsty