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Blessed [fortunate] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. [1]

~Jesus (Matthew 5:6)

Persons who “hunger and thirst” at work are in dire need. They will perish if they are not filled. Such is the passion of those who desire righteousness in our faith at work. In the context of the preceding points, righteousness includes several facets.

  • It includes “justice” for those who have been downtrodden or who have experienced injustice at work.
  • It includes the idea of personal ethical righteousness at work for those who desire a life lived above the entanglements of sin.
  • It includes the salvation-historical sense of God’s saving activity in the workplace.
  • Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness desire to see justice executed in the workplace.

The ultimate source of this kind of righteousness is God himself. His enablement is the only satisfaction for those who long for his standard of righteousness written in his law. Although the teachers of the rules and regulations at work focus on attaining righteousness through obeying the rules, their efforts result in self-righteousness, which will not enable them to enter the kingdom of heaven.

  • But for those who deeply long for God’s multifaceted righteousness at work, they will be filled.
  • That divine satisfaction will come in a final sense in God’s future reign, but it will be experienced in the workplace by those who respond to Jesus’ invitation to kingdom life and enter into a relationship with him as he fills their deepest personal hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Jesus’ disciples see firsthand the contrast between the self-righteousness of the work leaders and God’s righteousness in Jesus’ life and ministry. This passionate pursuit of righteousness flows from a transformed heart. Jesus’ disciples will be vessels of God’s righteousness at work as they strive for justice, as they exemplify a life of righteousness, and as they bring God’s gift of salvation to a world still held in the sway of the evil one.  [2]

[1] New American Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 5:6). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[2] Wilkins, M. J. (2004). Matthew (pp. 207–208). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.