To Be Truly Rich, We Must Be Truly Poor

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
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.