Desire Mercy

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after Righteousness: For they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

Yesterday we learned that meekness doesn’t mean that we let everyone dictate our lives for us. What it does mean is that we allow God to dictate our life. To hunger and thirst after righteousness is an extension of meekness. It’s to have a great desire for God’s righteousness to prevail. It is our desire to be in line with his will. It is our desire to be instruments of his righteousness. God wants us to desire for the wrongs around us to be made right.

In Mattthew 6:31-33, he expounds on this. He says that we shouldn’t worry about our everyday needs if we seek his righteousness. He said that we seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, then all those things would be added to us.

It is not enough that we desire righteousness as we perceive it. As it says in Proverbs 14:12 that a person can follow a way that seems right to them, but that way leads to death. This is why it is imperative that we get into the Word of God and desire to know HIS righteousness. His desire is that we get to know him. Daily we are able to learn to know what is right for us in the sight of God through the word and through the direct communion of prayer. This scripture in Matthew 5:6 affirms out of Jesus own mouth that if we hunger and thirst for his righteousness, our needs will be met through him.

A few years ago, my husband and I were having trouble financially. Both of us had lost our jobs, neither of us had an income coming in. At the end of the year, when we figured our tax statement, we discovered that we made less than $4000 for the entire year. Never once during that year did we not have a roof over our heads, not once did we have to go without a meal. Not once did our utilities get turned off. What makes this even more amazing is that my husband paid more in child support than we made that year! We were seeking God and he provided in amazing ways!

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy

This statement represents the law of sowing and reaping. Jesus was letting us know that when we plant something whether it is in the physical or in the spiritual, we reap what we planted. If we plant corn, we reap corn not some other vegetable. If we plant corruption, we receive corruption. If we plant mercy, we get mercy.

So what exactly is the mercy that Jesus is talking about here?

The Greek word for merciful   is eleemon and it refers to the act of giving compassion. By being merciful, it leads to  eleeo  or mercy which is the act of receiving compassion.

This same word eleemon is used again in Matthew 18:33 when Jesus says “Shouldn’t you have compassion on your fellowservant even as I had pity on you.” This was part of the parable of the servant (Matthew 18:23-35 whom the king forgave but he refused to forgive another servant who owed him.

This passage in Matthew 18 has a lot to do with forgiveness, therefore, when Jesus said the merciful shall obtain mercy, a good place to start is in forgiving those who have wronged us.

If our our desires are truly a deep hunger and thirst for God’s  righteousness, we must also desire to forgive others with that same hunger and thirst..