Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
"And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'" Matthew 5:1-3
We might expect it to be those who live by a certain religious code of ethics who will partake of the kingdom of heaven, but Jesus said otherwise: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
It is not the haughty and self-righteous who will inherit the kingdom of God, but the one who humbly acknowledges before God his spiritual poverty and sinfulness in thought, word and deed. Do you remember Jesus' parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector? Who was it who went home from the temple justified before God? It was the tax collector who wouldn't even raise his eyes toward heaven and who said, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" (Luke 18:9-14).
In Isaiah 66:2, God says, "But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word." Cf. Psalm 34:18 and 51:16-17.
God desires that we humble ourselves before Him, confess our utter sinfulness and spiritual poverty and receive His rich and abundant pardon and forgiveness for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ, and Christ's innocent sufferings and death upon the cross for the sins of the world.
Are you "poor in spirit"? Turn to Jesus and His shed blood and be blessed with a place in His eternal kingdom!
O Dearest Jesus, I am a sinner and fail to measure up to the righteous demands of Your holy Word. I have sinned in my thoughts, desires, words and deeds. But you kept God's commandments for me, and You went to the cross and suffered my punishment. Forgive me for the sake of Your shed blood, and receive me into Your everlasting kingdom. Amen.
[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]
Editorial on 06/03/2015