Dig For Your Life!

Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

“On one condition.” Ever heard that phrase before? It is often the deciding factor whether a contract between two parties is completed. In this passage in Matthew, Jesus promises His followers that they will be filled, or another way of putting it is spiritually satisfied, but first they must meet one condition: they must hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Ever feel as though you’re in a spiritual drought, like your journeying through a spiritual desert? These times come to all of us at some point, but regardless of what your circumstances might be, whether you make it through the valley, is going to be decided based on you meeting that “one condition.”

Spiritual hunger and thirst does not come upon us suddenly, it does not occur through osmosis. It comes as it is cultivated and invited. We must create a place of emptiness that cries out to be filled. Friends what I am going to say now is very important, the intensity of our hunger will determine the depth of our filling.

In most cases, we lose our spiritual appetite because we have allowed our souls, to be filled with the things of this world. We change our standards, because societies standards have changed. Women looking and dressing like men, men looking and dressing like women, and so many so called ‘believers’ embrace these things with the justification that society has changed. God has not called us to conform to the standards of this world, He has called to be transformed. The Apostle Paul warns us in Colossians not to be led captive through philosophies based on human tradition which are contrary to God’s Holy Word!

Hunger, thirst, spiritual desire is the single most required characteristic of the growing maturing, advancing Christian life. Yet it seems at times to be the most easily forsaken or lost. What is our attitude toward the Lord, His presence, and His Word?

Luke 10:38-42

“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Martha welcomed Jesus into her house, but forsook His presence for earthly concerns. She took his presence for granted, she felt what she was doing was more important than what Jesus was saying. In contrast, Mary sat at his feet and heard Jesus’ words. Martha had not accepted the “One condition.”

The church is filled with people like Martha who are busy about the Lords business but have never met the condition. Their lives are full of everything except the presence of God. Thirst and desire are the thermometer that determine the spiritual health of a believer, a church, or a ministry.

When we lose our spiritual appetites for the presence and the glory of God in our midst, then our spiritual lives are in critical condition. If you’re not hungry and thirsty, you won’t eat, and you won’t drink, and if you won’t eat and drink, you’ll die.

Psalm 63:1-2

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.”

Isaiah 44:3

“For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:”

In 2nd Kings 3, we find three kings facing a dilemma: they were deep into the wilderness surrounded by hostile kings and they were out of water. The Solution, “One condition” become empty. Make this valley full of ditches, the ditches represented a capacity for receiving.

At the word of the Lord they began to dig ditches. It didn’t make any sense, they didn’t feel like it, they were battle weary, they were tired, they were scared, and they were desperate, but they started digging. They were not digging for amusement, or for exercise, they were digging for their lives.

I believe today that many of you need to start digging for your lives. This is not about comfort, convenience, preference, or what makes you feel good, it’s all about spiritual survival and it’s a matter of life and death. You’re in a desert, you’re dry, you’re weary, and you’re struggling just to hang on. If you don’t create a place of emptiness for the Holy Ghost, if you don’t get on your knees and start digging, you’re not going to make it!

In the hour that we live in there are many that are going to have to make a choice: are you going to do what you’ve always done because you’ve always done it, are you going to hold on to your way and try to force God to agree with you? Are you going to die of spiritual malnutrition, or are you going to accept the “One condition” and start digging?

You’ve got to dig through religion, it will not sustain you. Dig through your anger, resentment, frustration, dig through pride and stubbornness, dig through feelings and emotions, dig through the cares of life. Dig, create a place of emptiness, prepare yourself to receive the power of the Holy Ghost!

John 4:14

“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Dig until you hit a fresh and holy anointing of the power and glory of God like you’ve never experienced before! Dig! Dig for your life!