“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). In the world, people are hungering and thirsting for all types of things. If you look at the things that people in the world hunger and thirst for, they are things like wealth, money, a comfortable life, houses and lands, advancement in society, higher position in their jobs, beautifying their appearance, and anything else that will bring them honor, comfort and pleasure in this world. This is also true for many Christians.

Most Christians, even those who claim they're born again, are pursuing these things. But hungering and thirsting to live a godly life - hungering and thirsting to overcome sin - is such a rare quality that I believe what Jesus said: very few find this way to life. I am not surprised when I find very few interested in a message of being totally righteous. In-fact, I am not surprised when people turn around and say, “That's impossible.” When people say the Sermon on the Mount has impossible standards and that nobody can live up to it, that is exactly the answer I expect from a worldly Christian or so-called born-again Christians who have worldly attitudes. I would question whether such a person is really born again if he neglects all that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. That is why Jesus said, “Make them disciples” before He said, “Teach them all that I have commanded,” in Matthew 28:20.

Every person who calls himself a Christian, but who only wants to go to heaven and is not interested in obeying all that Jesus commanded, is far from it. If a person truly becomes a disciple, he will be interested to know what Jesus has commanded. The attitude of a true disciple of Jesus is, “If He wants me to be poor in spirit, I want to know what that means and obey it. If He wants me to mourn for my sin or to be gentle, I want to know what that means too. If He wants me to hunger and thirst for righteousness, I want to hunger and thirst for righteousness.” 

What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? For example, if you say, “I'm thirsty for a little bit of water,” how much would you be willing to pay for that glass of water? What if a glass of water cost 100,000 rupees? You would say, “No, I'm not that thirsty, to pay 100,000 rupees for a glass of water.” But consider if you were a person who had been wandering in the desert for seven days and your whole body is dry and your mouth is dry and you are about to die of thirst. Boy, you would be willing to pay 100,000 rupees for a glass of water! That is thirst. And you would be willing to pay any amount for food if you were dying of hunger.

The type of hunger and thirst that Jesus is speaking of is a desperate hunger and thirst to be righteous at any cost, not to be righteous only if it's convenient or if it doesn't disturb any of my plans. Most people who sit in churches, even those who listen to messages of holiness, want to be holy if it doesn't disturb their plans, or if it doesn't ruin their ambitions for the future, or if it doesn't hinder them from marrying the girl or boy they want to marry. They want righteousness, as long as there's not too much of a price to pay for it. So when you offer them righteousness, if their first question is, “What’s the price?” then you know that they are not really hungry. A person who is desperately thirsty or hungry will not ask for the price. He will say, “Give me that water! I will pay! I will give you everything I have because I'm dying!” 

That is the meaning of seeking God with all of our hearts. The reason why many people do not find God in the way that others have found Him, and why they do not have a satisfying Christian life (which is the condition of most born again Christians), is because they are not seeking God with all their heart. I have found very few Christians in my life, as I’ve traveled to many countries and been a Christian for 52 years, who can honestly say, “I am really satisfied with the Lord, I am satisfied with my Christian life, in the progress He’s given me, and I am thankful for the way it has gone. I'm excited about my life every day!” Very few can honestly say that. I find most people are bored of their Christian life. Maybe they were excited on the day they were converted, but now they are so bored. They have no time to read the Bible, they have no interest in spiritual things; they may be indulging in a certain amount of activity like going to church, witnessing, and caring for the poor, but they are not excited about following in Jesus’ footsteps.

To understand the reason behind this we need to understand a law concerning man and God. In Jeremiah 29:13 the Lord says to His people Israel, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” What if you do not seek Him with all your heart because you are seeking Him half-heartedly, or three-quarters of your heart? Sure, you would have a religion. You would have a Christianity that is a mere religion, with rituals and various things that you do, but you would not know the Lord. You would not know Jesus as a personal friend, and so you would miss out on everything in the Christian life. You may have a Christian name and be a member of a Christian Church, but if you don't know the Lord personally, you have missed out on the main thing. And the reason may be because you aren’t seeking God with all your heart. There are lot of things in the world you may be seeking with all your heart, but not the Lord.