I Can’t Get No… Satisfaction

A Series on the Beatitudes
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Matthew 5:6; Micah 6:8

 [In this series, we will be looking at the Beatitudes from the perspective that Jesus came to establish his kingdom. In order to do that, he needed to set new expectations; to let his followers know that his was a spiritual kingdom, not a political one. To teach them what it means to bring in his kingdom; what it means to turn the world upside down.] 

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.      NIV

 

 In 1965, the iconic music group the Rolling Stones, released a song titled, “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction”. The lyrics tell a story about a man who tries to find satisfaction in his life, but no matter what he tries, he “can’t get no satisfaction”. It’s not the best English, but you get the point.

 

Of course, he’s not the first person to experience dead ends in their life. Solomon, the wisest man on earth, wrote in Ecclesiastes about hopelessness; about desperation. He tried every avenue available to find satisfaction, but in the end he wrote, “I can’t get no satisfaction”.

 

² “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
    says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
    Everything is meaningless.”    NIV

 

However, the Beatitude for today gives us hope. Here are two different versions that help us to understand how.

 

⁶ God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
    for they will be satisfied.            NLT

 

⁶ “Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires;
    God will satisfy them fully!       GNT

 

Jesus seems to be pointing his disciples back to the voice of the prophet Micah who also gave us insight on how to find satisfaction in life.

 

⁸ 

…the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.                       GNT

 

There are lots of bunny trails that we humans run down trying to find satisfaction. Sometimes, they seem to work for a while. But none of them are eternal; none of them have the power to weather all the storms of life; none of them usher in the kingdom of God.

 

Only the Living God, King of the universe, has that ability, and Jesus points us towards Him.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams