Words of Grace

By Rev. Mahlon Nevel

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,” Jesus said “for they shall be filled” ( Matthew 5:6).

The Lord is concerned for those who are hungry for food and thirsty for water. But he was referring to those who have a desire for spiritual things.

Jesus invited the thirsty to come to him and drink. (John 7:37) He called himself “the bread of life” and John 6:35.

He promised that those who came to him would never hunger, and those who believed in him would never thirst.
The prophet Isaiah announced the coming of Christ in 55:1,2. The Thirsty can come to the water to drink, even if they have no money. The hungry can come to get bread free of charge.

Why, Isaiah asks, do people spend their money for what is not bread? Why do they labor for that which does not satisfy?

The story is told about Theodore Roosevelt, then a colonel, fighting in the Spanish-American War. As he led a regiment of rough-riders in Cuba, he became much concerned for some of his men who had fallen sick.

Hearing that Clara Barton, the devoted nurse who took care of the wounded soldiers, had received a supply of delicacies for the invalids under her care, he requested that she sell a portion for his sick men. His request was refused.

Then how can I get these things? The colonel asked.

“Just ask for them,” the nurse answered. So he asked for them, and he got them at once.