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"Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth."
(Matthew 5:5)
Oswald Chambers writes, "The Beatitudes initially seem to be merely soothing and beautiful precepts for overly spiritual and seemingly useless people, but of very little practical use in the rigid, fast-paced workdays of the world in which we live. We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the 'dynamite' of the Holy Spirit. And they 'explode' when the circumstances of our lives cause them to do so. . . . The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations—it is a picture of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is having His unhindered way with us." (http://utmost.org/am-i-blessed-like-this)
Today we look further at the third of the eight Beatitudes given by Jesus Christ on the shore of the Sea of Galilee as the multitudes gathered to hear Him speak. They loved His sermon, as indicated by Matthew 7:28-29: "And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."
The third Beatitude builds upon the previous two—when we are poor in spirit and have mourned over our sin, we will become meek, not haughty or self-demanding, but selfless and sacrificial, strength harnessed, and seeking ways to gently live our lives under the Holy Spirit's influence and power.
Living by the principles enumerated by Christ in His sermon on the mount is not for the self-willed, proud, and arrogant man or woman. Some will read this and think to themselves, "If this is the way to succeed, no thanks. This is not the way to get ahead in life, and who is able to live out such lofty principles anyhow?" Martin Luther believed that these principles of Jesus spelled out in this sermon were not meant for a choice, select, elite few who whisk away to a monastery to try and practice this way of life. Rather, this higher way of living is meant for this sinful world. He argued that the world is most sinful, but God has called us to live out these principles in the gritty here and now. Luther said, "What is the world but a big, wide, and turbulent ocean of inexhaustible wickedness and villainy, all made to look beautiful and good?" (The Sermon on the Mount Through the Centuries, p. 113)
As the Holy Spirit guides and inspires us, we can live a life of meekness in the tough everyday world in which we find ourselves. More about meekness in tomorrow's devotion.
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