(Matthew 5:6 NIV) Blessed those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

(Ecclesiastes 1:18 NIV) For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. 

(Ecclesiastes 12:12 NIV) Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. 

(Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 NIV) I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. 

(Ecclesiastes 2:17-18 NIV) So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 

(Ecclesiastes 5:10-11NIV) Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? 

(Ecclesiastes 4:8 NIV) There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. 

(1 Kings 11:3 NIV) He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines... 

(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NIV) Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

(Proverbs 21:21 NIV) Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. 

1.   We become full from the wrong things.

(Hebrews 11:25 NIV) (Moses) chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 

(Isaiah 55:1-2 NIV) “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money,come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. ² Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.

2.   We’ve never experienced the goodness of God.

(Psalm 34:8 NIV) Taste and see that the LORD is good…

(Ephesians 3:18-19 NIV) I pray that you... may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 

RIGHTEOUSNESS IS...

1)  Right standing with God 

(Romans 1:17 NLT) This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight.

(Romans 3:25 NLT) We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. 

(Romans 5:9-11 NLT) And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. 

2)  Right living on earth.

(Proverbs 14:12 NIV) There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. 

(Proverbs 12:28 NIV)  In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.