What the Bible says about Thirsting for Righteousness
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Proverbs 3:27-28 Cotton Mather, a Puritan preacher, once said, "The opportunity to do good imposes the obligation to do it." He is implying that we have been favored when an opportunity to serve in this manner arises. We are not to do it only when it is convenient or when it will contribute to our fame, but we should do it when we have opportunity, no matter how often it occurs or how much self-denial it takes. John W. Ritenbaugh The Beatitudes, Part Four: Hungering and Thirsting After Righteousness Related Topics: Doing Good | Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness | Hungering for Righteousness | Obligation | Obligation, Sense of | Righteousness, Seeking God's | Self Denial | Thirsting for Righteousness

John 7:37-39 Jesus is prophesying of the giving of the Spirit, which is absolutely essential to the "circumcision of the heart," to "writing God's law on the heart," to enabling us to have a good relationship with God. Notice that He puts conditions on receiving the Spirit, which is a factor that did not appear much in the Old Covenant prophecies about it. But here the time to make the Spirit available is near, so God's Servant - Jesus Christ - tells us what the conditions are to be if we are going to agree to this Covenant. He says that we have to believe, to come to Him. If we have been called, we have to respond. We have to thirst - to want it desperately - and on top of that, we have to drink. Remember the old cliché, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"? A lot of people are like that: They can be led to the truth, but to get them to take it in and make it a part of them is very difficult indeed. In addition, the Spirit would not be given until Christ was glorified, that is, until after His death and His resurrection to spirit life. John W. Ritenbaugh The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twelve) Related Topics: Circumcision of the Heart | Circumcision, Spiritual | Gift of the Holy Spirit | God's Holy Spirit | God's Holy Spirit, Thirsting for | Holy Spirit | Holy Spirit Given to Those Who Obey | Holy Spirit, Conditions for Receiving | Holy Spirit, Gift of | Laws Written in Hearts and Minds | Thirst | Thirst Imagery | Thirsting for Righteousness

2 Timothy 3:1 For us, a great deal of that peril exists in the multitude of visible, emotional, and audible distractions that occupy minds nurtured by television, movies, and radio. Through these mediums we invite the world and much of its appeal directly into our homes. We have come to tolerate television's intrusion into our lives. By means of the Internet, some of us have become information junkies, and others can hardly go anywhere without being accompanied by a playing radio. We need to honestly examine ourselves as to whether we are showing God that what this world bombards our minds with through these mediums is really what we hunger and thirst for. How are they preparing us for the Kingdom of God? John W. Ritenbaugh The Beatitudes, Part Four: Hungering and Thirsting After Righteousness Related Topics: Distraction | Hunger | Hunger and Thirst Metaphor | Hunger Imagery | Hunger, Spiritual | Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness | Hungering for Righteousness | Internet | Media Influence | Television, Influence of | Thirst | Thirst Imagery | Thirsting for Righteousness

 

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