|
"Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy."
(Matthew 5:7)
Can you believe this is the last week of 2021? This year has flown by! I hope you can take some time and rest this week. Many places of employment do not require their employees to work during this last week of the year, the time between Christmas and New Year's Day. May God bless you and strengthen you as we close this year and turn our hearts and minds to a brand New Year full of promise and hope.
We are halfway through our study in the Beatitudes of Jesus, at the eighth blessed statement He made at the beginning of His famous sermon known as the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7. He delivered this address to those who had gathered on the northwest shores of the beautiful Sea of Galilee. The disciples came to hear Him, as did the general populace.
There is a shift in the teaching of Jesus at this point in His Beatitudes, so we need to address it and make sure we understand it. The first four teachings in the Beatitudes deal with our position in God, how we are to come to Him poor in spirit, broken over our sin, and recognizing how we need the Savior. The proud and arrogant do not show mercy, exhibit purity of heart, etc. So, the first step is to come broken before Jesus, realizing your abject spiritual poverty and the fact that, in and of yourself, you are morally deficient and spiritually bankrupt. It is very liberating to realize that you and I can do nothing to commend ourselves to God. We come to Him in great spiritual need, and Jesus heals and saves us.
The second Beatitude tells us we are in a blessed state when we mourn. That is the correct response of those who see themselves as they really are. Yes, it is humbling and sobering when you see yourself as God sees you. And when you mourn, the gentle hand of God comforts you and wipes away your tears, and you are made well. Following being poor in spirit and mourning over our sin, the third Beatitude describes the blessings of being meek. The meek are not weak. They are like the mighty stallion that has been broken; they have strength, but it is under control. God gives you this hunger and thirst for Him, and you pursue Him and His teachings. You crave that which is right. You have become right in the eyes of God through Christ Jesus who clothes you in His robe of righteousness, and now His life and passions are your own.
Now you become merciful. Without the four preceding operations of grace in your life, you will by no means be a person of mercy. But when you and I become merciful, what a blessed life we live! We go out of our way to forgive, help, and alleviate suffering. To expect someone to display genuine mercy toward others without experiencing the four preceding realities given by our Lord is laughable. It would be like a ten year-old peewee football player being asked to play professional football.
In tomorrow's devotion, we will explore this wonderful Beatitude of Jesus on mercy.
|
Apple
Spotify
Stitcher
YouTube
