“Blessed are the poor
in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3
With a trail of multitudes clamoring to
hear more of His astounding message, Christ treks up a mountainside,
sits down and, right out of the gate, announces to His eager
listeners that if they want to be blessed, they have to be... poor.
In our finite minds, these two words - “poor” and “blessed” -
just don't seem to go together in the same sentence whatsoever.
Instead, we naturally grate against this idea because since birth the
world has sworn to us that to be “blessed” is to live a life of
ease, comfort, and riches of all sorts. What the world has forgotten
to tell us is that these riches can never truly satisfy and,
ultimately, they will all pass away.
Christ is speaking of a spiritual
poverty, of knowing deep in our core that nothing good resides inside
us and that we are desperate for the power and presence of God every
moment of our lives. All our self-efforts of trying to perform “good
enough” to be accepted by others (including God) will without
exception leave us exhausted and empty.
Instead, when we approach every day
with our hearts humbled before our merciful Father, what joy we
receive as His boundless store of spiritual riches are poured out
onto us! No service in ministry, no amazing accomplishment, no
attainment of the “American dream,” could even come close to
producing the depth of peace and unshakeable joy that Jesus wants to
lavish on us when we make fellowship with Him our number one
priority.
In this life, if we want to be truly
rich, we need to be needy. When
we are beggars for more of Christ – the true Bread of Life – our
hearts will perpetually cry out, as the old hymn says, “I need thee
every hour.” Let us hold fast to the truth that if we but stay at
Christ's feet and find nourishment for our souls as He teaches and
guides us, all the treasures of His Kingdom will be produced
in our lives for His glory.
