Food For Thought

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for dikiasyne (righteousness or justice), for they shall be satisfied." Mat 5:6

Everyone hungers, well, everyone that is healthy. I was sick last week with a cold and all day on Wednesday I was subject to coughdrops and kleenex not to mention confined to my bed. It is amazing how one is reminded of health in the midst of sickness. By Thursday I was able to eat a "tasty" meal, not because the food was exceptional but because I could actually taste it! Colds have a way of making food taste like rubber. The worst was that I was also fighting a nauseous stomach ... that makes food detestable. I was not hungry on Wednesday, but with a good nights sleep my hunger returned in the morning. I had to watch what I ate. I wanted it to stay down. When recovering from a sickness it is amazing how strict you become with eating habits. No junk! All healthy! And the the water flow? I was an ever flowing fountain (which was part of the reason I kept getting up Tuesday night).

Come Thursday, health returned ... and so did my hunger. How does one hunger for righteousness or justice? Does one need to be deprived of it in order to long for it? No, though we can easily lose our appreciation for it. How does one remain hungery for righteousness and justice? By remaining healthy. If I am not eating the word of God on a regular basis then I will grow spiritually weak and lose the appetite for righteousness. I will get hungery, but if I fail to fill my soul with the meat of Gods word then I will fail to long for justice. People will be trampled, misused, even killed ... but when my meal is paltry, my desire to stop this injustice will be pathetic. In fact, if to feed my shallow appetite I must trample a few people I may even justify the injustice. So often my wealth and ease is at the expense of others ... though I am too hungry to care, too hungry for food that is perishing. O that I may learn to hunger for real food ... righteousness and justice.