A little construction project underway

Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)

I like to read a passage in the Amplified Bible from time to time because it expands the original text with helpful meaning as you will observe in the box brackets above. When we limit our understanding of a word to what we commonly use that word to describe, we often miss the deeper meaning of the word when it is used in context in scripture. Blessed really carries the expanded meaning of 'nourished by God's goodness' or 'joyful'. Either way, it describes both being protected by God and having all our needs taken care of in only the way he can. Joyfulness is the result of being in relationship with him - seeking that 'right standing' with him. It comes because we enter into a place where all we thought we needed in this world really pales in comparison to what he reveals as our deepest and truest needs within.

Hunger and thirst actually drive us, don't they? Get hungry enough and you scour the refrigerator or cupboards for something to fill that empty space within. Get thirsty enough and you actually begin to 'dwindle' a bit until you find water. Now, think of that in terms of seeking after God's goodness and his righteousness in your life. Are you looking to God to fill that empty space within? Are you dwindling because it has been way too long since you have taken his presence in? To be completely satisfied, we have to 'take him in' - allowing him to fill us up, bringing new life to what is dwindling within us emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Active seeking is more than a casual, on again - off again relationship with Jesus. It is a continued work in progress. At times, I remark that it seems like you cannot escape road construction in the Phoenix metro area. When they finish one project, they begin another, then another, and on it goes. Your trip is always 'interrupted' by those cones that move you to one lane, bumpy areas, and even heavy equipment that barely creeps along. What I sometimes fail to recognize that is without all that continuous 'construction' and 'reconstruction' of those passageways, there would be very unsatisfactory conditions both on the surface and underneath those roadways!

Perhaps this is the case for us. Without all the continuous 'construction' and 'deconstruction' in our lives, the things both on and beneath the surface of our lives would be pretty doggone unsatisfactory and unsatisfied. Just sayin!