| "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for | | | | and the meek)."It means if you thirst after |
| righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6)."If | | | | righteousness, you want to live a godly life," says |
| you do right, you won't get hungry or thirsty," says | | | | Morgan, 10. "It also means you would act like God |
| Zach, age 6.Actually, the thirst here is something | | | | would want you to live.""There is only One Being who |
| different, says Anna, 10: "It means that people who | | | | can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, |
| want righteousness thirst for it like water."Have you | | | | and that is the Lord Jesus Christ," wrote author |
| ever been thirsty -- I mean really thirsty?In the Arizona | | | | Oswald Chambers.God doesn't ask us to deny our |
| desert, I once took a walk I'll never forget. From my | | | | burning desire for intimacy, beauty and adventure. |
| elevated campsite, the Colorado River looked like an | | | | Religion does that. Jesus invites us to intimate |
| easy 30-minute trek. I learned the meaning of "as the | | | | communion with himself and his Father that satisfies |
| crow flies" because the dry ravine I followed was | | | | the deepest longings of our souls.Jesus upset the |
| anything but straight and made the trip much longer. | | | | religious system of his day by awakening the desires |
| After my canteen ran dry, I began to be thirsty like | | | | of people's hearts. Consider his statement: "Ask, and it |
| never before.God will quench the thirst of those who | | | | will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it |
| desire him as a man walking in the Arizona desert with | | | | will be opened to you" (Luke 11:9).It's whom you ask, |
| a dry canteen craves water. There's nothing casual | | | | where you seek and what door you knock on that |
| about this kind of thirst. It's desperate."I think it means | | | | makes all the difference. A journey into God himself |
| when Jesus was at the well and told the lady about | | | | makes every other adventure look dull."Those who |
| everlasting water," says Lauren, 8, "she took the water | | | | thirst after righteousness will be filled with it," says Nick, |
| and was satisfied."Yes, the woman at the well with | | | | 10. "They will be blessed with love from God."Point to |
| whom Jesus spoke had been married five times and | | | | ponder: God will satisfy your deepest desires if you |
| was living with a man who was not her husband, yet | | | | look to him for fulfillment.Scripture to remember: |
| Jesus doesn't give her a lecture on immorality. He | | | | "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for |
| spoke to her about her thirst (John 4:14)."If we try to | | | | righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew |
| gain transcendence through indulgence, soon enough | | | | 5:6).Question to consider: Where are you looking to |
| familiarity breeds contempt and we are driven to | | | | satisfy your deepest desires and longings?Carey |
| search for mystery elsewhere," write authors Brent | | | | Kinsolving is a syndicated columnist, producer, author, |
| Curtis and John Eldredge in an amazing book titled | | | | speaker and website developer. To see Carey's Kid |
| "The Sacred Romance.""To thirst after righteousness | | | | TV Interviews and more, visit The Kids Talk About |
| means wanting to live according to God's will instead | | | | God website contains free, online content for children |
| of the world's," says Kristen, 10. "This is the only way | | | | and families. Print free lessons from the "Kids Color Me |
| to be happy and filled. If you thirst after righteousness, | | | | Bible" and make your own book. Watch for free the |
| God will bless you."You are what you desire to eat! | | | | adventures of an 11-year-old girl traveling around the |
| There's a God-shaped hole in all of us that only God | | | | world, visiting missionaries in the Mission Explorers |
| can fill."Yes, God is in the filling business. In fact, the | | | | Streaming Video. Print Bible pictures drawn by kids that |
| word "fill" means to be satisfied in the sense of being | | | | illustrate Scripture verses. Receive a complimentary, |
| stuffed after a sumptuous meal.If you're eating the | | | | weekly e-mail subscription to our Devotional Bible |
| junk food of the self-centered life, you'll never be | | | | Lessons. Bible quotations in this column are from the |
| satisfied. The hungry and thirsty are the desperate of | | | | New King James Version. |
| the previous Beatitudes (the poor in spirit, the mournful | | | | |