Sunday 1 July, 2018

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Blessing is a concept that I really like, but something that I think I don’t completely understand.

Here in this passage, Christ is describing a set of principles for how blessings work in the kingdom of God. As I read, I think how much this set of principles has items that are the opposite of how the system of blessing works in the world.

Thinking it through, I wonder if the reason I find blessing and misfortune hard to grasp is because there are at least 2 sources of blessing (God and then the world/flesh) then a source of opposition (the Enemy) and a source of discipline (God).

I wonder how many times I have assumed that things were going well because God was with me, but it was really the system of the world?

Lord, help me to seek after your blessing and help me to discern when you are at work.

Written by Ps Justin Ware