The Spiritual Food That Satisfies

In recent months, both of our sons have been infected with whatever illness has gone through the Cove that included fever, congestion and coughing. Included also was lack of appetite. They each were sick for a while, and it was a relief to see them eating again. A body needs calories, minerals, vitamins, fats, fiber, etc.

The fourth Beatitude talks about appetite. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). This is referring to what nourishes and strengthens our souls. Jesus offered Himself as real spiritual food. By His perfectly righteous life and substitutionary death and triumphant resurrection from the grave, and as we by grace exercise faith in Him, depend on Him, rely on, love, yield to, imitate, seek life from Him, delight in His beautiful holiness, pray to Him to make us like He is, we are looking to Him to satisfy our souls. He nourishes us through the Scriptures, participation in the Lord’s Supper, and the life that we experience in the body of Christ, the church.

I know when my body is hungry, but I don’t have the same sense when my soul needs to be filled. So, it is best to develop a discipline of looking to Christ in order to be filled by the means He has provided. What does the soul find so nutritious as it feeds on Christ by faith? Righteousness. Anything less than divinely-sourced righteousness will not cause the soul to be fruitful.

God is the standard of what is right and true and good and beautiful. There is no source of righteousness apart from Him. If Jesus came with a spiritual nutrition label, you would see that feeding on Him provides more than 100% of our recommended eternal allowance of righteousness. He makes us like He is. We can’t produce righteousness from within ourselves to nourish ourselves.

Righteousness comes in two forms – justification and sanctification. Justification means that as far as God’s system of justice is concerned, those who by grace have come to exercise faith in Christ as a way of life, have had their record cleared to show only perfect righteousness. This is because our guilt was transferred to and paid for by Christ on the cross, and His righteousness was credited to our account legally. So, there is no warrant out for believers to report to hell when we die.

Sanctification refers to Christ’s righteousness infiltrating our imagination, goals, desires, words, actions, hatred, delight and affections so that we begin to think, do and say what is right. Our souls can be satisfied by nothing less than perfect righteousness.

Who hungers for righteousness? Those conscious of their own corruption and need. Those who have been granted a glimpse of the beauty of Jesus’ love and holiness in the Bible. Those who realize the world is not satisfying.

You have a soul that will last forever. Your body will expire. Which one are you giving the most care?