The Wrong Question

If God is all powerful, then why doesn't He feed the poor? Why doesn't He stop all the wars? We're asking the wrong question.

Of course, God could stop all of the wars and end hunger. He's God! The REAL question is "why don't WE?"

The first verse that comes to my mind about this topic was when Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you." - Matthew 26:11. Why? Why will we ALWAYS have the poor with us? It's because WE are the ones who are supposed to care for them. WE are the ones who are failing to feed the hungry.

Of course, Jesus is really talking about the 'spiritually' poor. And Jesus was right. They have always been with us.

The statement "the poor you will always have with you" is an all-knowing God knowing that we will never accomplish what He wants us to do, because of our sinful nature. Our desire for our own material possessions and 'looking out for number one' outweighs our desire to help and to love others.

A better question should be "Lord, what can I do to help the poor?" To feed the hungry. To cloth the naked.

Lord, show me what you would have me do. Lord, teach me, that I might use my knowledge to feed those who are hungry, house those who have no home, to clothe those who are naked.

We keep asking all of the wrong questions. We have the capability and financial resources to do everything God wants us to do, but we don't. It's not God we should be questioning. It is ourselves and our own free will decisions.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ - Matthew 25:34-40

Hunger and Thirst

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." - Matthew 5:6

Do you know what we need in this world? We need some good, old-fashioned hunger and thirst. Let me explain.

When Jesus spoke on the Mount of Olives to his disciples and to those who had come to be healed or fed, He was not talking about actual physical hunger or thirst. He was talking about spiritual hunger and thirst. And it wasn't food or water that the people should be craving either. It was righteousness.

So, what IS righteousness anyway?

Righteousness - the being and doing right; conformity in character and conduct to a right standard. A coming into spiritual oneness with God, because for Christ's sake the believer in Christ is treated as righteous.

The verse said that "BLESSED are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." Do we HUNGER for it? Are we THRSTY for it? Or is righteousness something we no longer have to attain because we have Jesus in our lives?

I think we need to crave righteousness like we haven't eaten in a week and are craving a cheeseburger. We need to thirst for it like we just walked out of a desert into a diner and the waitress asks us what we'd like.

WATER!!!

But we don't hunger or thirst for it, do we? We go to church on Sunday and that's enough it seems.

I think what's missing is our spiritual brokenness. The realization that we will starve to death without God's nourishing Word. If we truly hunger and thirst for righteousness, then this verse should have incredible meaning for us today.

"Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." - John 6:35

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Jesus!