Matthew 5:6 (NIV) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
There are many in the world today, both in and out of the Church, who are perfectly satisfied with their level of righteousness. Some of these are relatively righteous, that is they are more righteous than their peers, and that gives them assurance that when they stand before God they will be fine.
But some who are comfortable with their own level of righteousness are far less righteous. They convince themselves that they are as good as anyone, better than some, and that they have only done what they had to do in those moments when their actions were far less than righteous.
But God never judges people on the basis of comparing them with others. He does not grade on a curve, or use a sliding scale to determine whether someone falls into the category of righteous. He judges according to Himself, the absolute standard of righteousness. As the apostle John wrote: “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.” (1 John 3:7 NIV) Those who do not do the right thing according to God’s directions are sinful, not righteous.
That blunt statement doesn’t mean that God writes off those who are not righteous. But it does mean that if they grow satisfied with their own level of righteousness like the Pharisees and teachers of the law in Jesus’ day, they will not turn to God for more. Those who realize that they are not righteous before God, no matter what their reputation among other people may be, and who let that knowledge drive them to seek God, the only source of true righteousness, will receive far more than forgiveness for their past sins. They will receive transformation, and will be filled with God’s genuine righteousness, so that right actions will flow naturally from their transformed lives.
Put simply, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled with what they hunger and thirst for: genuine righteousness.
Father, I think we sometimes have a hard time believing that even You could ever make us truly righteous. So we tamper with Your clear words, reinterpreting them, and bringing Your promise down to something that we can accept as true. But neither You nor Jesus ever lied, eve stretched the truth, or ever promised anything that You were not able to fully deliver. Help us to really believe that real righteousness is possible through You, so that we can measure ourselves against Your true standard, see clearly where we fall short, and allow ourselves to develop a genuine hunger and thirst for real and complete righteousness that will drive us to You for the transformation and filling that only You can give.