I love it when a new blog is formed. My dear friend, Andrew Cottingham, started blogging just today. I told him it would help him as much as those who actually read it. Blogging is not for everyone, of course, but since in less than 24 hours he has already written two posts, I hold out great hopes for this one! Here are his two posts, and I will end with a couple of great quotes from them. Pop over and encourage him — early bloggers need it!

• Matthew 5 v 6 cont.



• Hunger and thirst for righteousness

The better understanding of 'Blessed' which seems to carry more meaning in our culture is the word 'Happy'.

Here in verse 6 Jesus is preaching and teaches that:

Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.

Immediately it becomes apparent that there is a double positive here. A verse with a blessing at both ends. Happiness and fullness are both being offered as the result of hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

The two verbs 'hunger' and 'thirst' are both the result of natural appetites. There could not be more familiar cravings. We all, on a daily basis, respond to our sense of hunger and thirst, we know where to go and what our bodies need in order to satisfy their demands...

The man who is beginning to walk in meekness (Matthew 5 v 5) is going to need something else to fuel his thinking. He is no longer fighting his own corner, he has deposed himself from the throne of 'self'.