I also understand thirst. I wear a C-PAP machine at night for sleep apnea. It basically blows air down my throat all night long. When I wake up in the morning, my mouth is like the Sahara desert. The first drink of water in the morning brings me immense amounts of pleasure.
But it hasn’t been until the last ten or so years of my life that I understand how it feels to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6).
Hungering for righteousness means to want so badly to be right in God’s eyes that you are willing to change the bad things in your life - even if it means denying your own desires.
Being thirsty means focusing on the good things in your life that bring God glory and bring you closer to Him…not focusing on all of the things you want to do and can’t.
Lots of people love Jesus. Lots of people believe in God. But not a lot of people are so hungry for Them that they are willing to deny themselves and follow Them at all costs. But if you do, there are immeasurable blessings and satisfaction found in doing so.
Fulfilling this hunger is truly the only one that will satisfy you deeply and completely.
“I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” - Jesus (John 4:32)