Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 

because they will be filled. 

Matthew 5:6 

For what do you hunger? The answer can be telling. The answer can be an indicator of your spiritual health and the extent to which your old Adam still needs to be drowned. The answer will dictate your priorities in life. The answer will affect the relationships you have with others. For what do you hunger? 

If you hunger to be in control, you will do whatever you can to control your life and the lives of those around you. You will place your trust in your own abilities and assume you are in command of the talents with which you have been blessed. You will alienate yourself from those around you. Ultimately, God may send circumstances your way, circumstances far beyond your control. which will prove to you definitively that you are not in control of your life. Instead of being filled, you will be empty. 

If you hunger to have your way, you will constantly be persuading and demanding that others not only see things your way but accept them your way. You will place your trust in your own intelligence and will, not listen to the advice and counsel of others, and assume that your way is the only way. You will alienate yourself from those around you. Ultimately, God may give you over to your own will and your pursuit of selfish conceit. Instead of being filled, you will be empty. 

If you hunger to be filled with the things of this world, you will be constantly trying to acquire more. You will replace relationships with possessions. You will place your trust in the things you have amassed and assume that you are safe and secure. You will love and adore your material goods more than those around you. Ultimately, God will require your earthly life of you, and your possessions will be given to others who may not even want them. Instead of being filled, you will be empty. 

What does Christ say to us, time and time again, in His preaching and in His life? Seek first His righteousness and all the other things of this world will fall into place. Seek to fill your life with what He has done for you. Seek to know His perfect life which has been lived in your stead. Seek to bow your will to HIs. Turn control over to Him. Offer back to Him what He has givem to you. Know His grace, and you will be filled instead of empty. 

How do you do this? You make God’s Word the top priority in your life. Do this not just through worship attendance but through group Bible study, personal devotions, and regular Bible reading. This, and this alone, is how God has chosen to feed your hunger, slake your thirst, and fill your emptiness. Blessings, 

Frank Van Brocklin 

Principal/Staff Minister

Coming up on the near future at Immanuel Lutheran School: 

❖ Sunday, January 29 Immanuel Lutheran Church Annual Meeting - Noon

❖ Sunday, February 4 K-8 Students Sing for Worship - 8 AM Service

❖Monday, February 6 Early Release - Bus Service Provided