Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Matthew 5:3-6 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
WHAT MATTERS TO GOD
In the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus reveals what matters to God by describing the traits of a Christian. But these traits are not things toward which we naturally gravitate. These characteristics aren't highly coveted by most people, but they are qualities that matter to God.
These opening words of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount got the people's attention. These ideas were totally contrary to common thought. The poor in spirit are blessed? The mourners? The meek? Yes, Jesus says. These people are blessed because this is what God's people are like.
Christians, those who mourn over their sins now, will be comforted by the fact that Jesus died for them and has therefore freed them from the punishment that their sins earned.
Christians, who are meek now, instead of biting and clawing to scratch out a place for themselves in this world, they will inherit the earth in the world to come.
Christians, who know that they are not complete now, they who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled with good things as God teaches them His ways. And in heaven they will be filled to the top with God's perfect righteousness. Our sinfulness will be removed by God's powerful hand when He makes all things new.
Jesus once said, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:36). In this description of a Christian, it is as if He is saying, "What does it matter if a person misses out on all that the world values, if in the end he keeps his own soul for eternal life?"
