Your view of God dictates your view of life. This is also true in the area of one’s happiness and satisfaction. Ecclesiastes spends significant time revealing that the pursuit of the things of this world is vanity. Nothing this world has to offer can bring true happiness. Seeking happiness through the things of this world is like chasing the wind. That promotion at work, that relationship you desire, that new toy you want, that new car you crave cannot bring lasting happiness. Instead, Christ informs us, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). When we hunger for God, we can find true happiness.

When Scripture speaks of hunger, it indicates a driving pursuit for something. What is the driving pursuit of your life? From the moment of birth, the driving pursuit of our life is to have our own lusts and desires fulfilled. We seek comfort and satisfaction. Yet, this world cannot truly offer this. This only comes from God. As you cannot get enough of the food you love, so you should pursue God.

We are also to thirst after righteousness. Years ago, I went on a hike in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and foolishly forgot to take a water bottle. It was not long before I began to get a little dryness in my throat. That dryness soon turned into a burn. And the burn soon turned into a longing. When I was finally able to get to water, I felt as though I could never drink enough. After what seemed like gallons of water, I was satisfied. So it ought to be with God. The believer ought to long for God and righteousness like the traveler in the desert. He becomes the sole focus of our thinking. He becomes the sole desire we long for.

We are to hunger and thirst for righteousness. But what exactly is righteousness? One could simply define it as rightness with God. We come to rightness with God through salvation (or justification) in which we give our lives to God through faith and find forgiveness at the cross. We also find rightness with God through sanctification. Daily living our lives in a manner worthy of our salvation. We seek to have our lives reflect our justification.

When we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are promised that we will be filled. Like the experience of leaving a buffet, we will find fullness from God. This is when we find true happiness and satisfaction. You will not find true happiness through the things of this world, but you will find true happiness through an urgent pursuit of God. Live for God and find true joy.