(Matthew 5:3)
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.TODAY'S TAKEAWAY
Jesus is not talking about being physically poor. Notice specifically that He said, "poor in spirit". To be spiritually poor, is another way to say "humble", which is the opposite of arrogance, pride and selfishness. The only way to become a Christian (a believer), is to humble our hearts and go to Jesus. And in that moment of being born again, we become children of God, and with that, we are heirs to the kingdom of heaven, along with all our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Not only do we gain a perfect heavenly Father, we gain an entire, enormous family! I was going to point this out in yesterday's blog. It is interesting that the first four men that Jesus chose to be His disciples were two sets of brothers. Both groups dropped everything, and left their fishing businesses, to follow Jesus. God knows that we need family, and their support! After all, He created us! And He created us as social beings. So, this would not have been coincidental, since the Lord God is all-knowing, and remains true to His purpose.
The reason why the Lord created mankind in the first place, was exactly why many couples have children! God wanted children to love, with the desire that they would all choose to love Him back. But because Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, this brought physical and spiritual death, and a separation between us and God. Because God is holy, He cannot have a relationship with sin. It's not shocking that the first act of disobedience in eating from the forbidden fruit, was a result of thinking they could take the place of God, which was an act of arrogance, pride and selfishness.
Crazy! Right!? In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve already had everything, including an amazing personal relationship with God. But, thinking that by eating the fruit they would gain some sort of wisdom, power and position - they lost everything. I mean, at the best of times, in our own efforts and thinking, we can make a really big mess of things. And while we have our earthly families, they are all dysfunction to some degree. So, it is only when we choose to - humbly - do things God's way, putting Him first in our lives, having a personal relationship with Him, that He will help us through life, and help us in our relationships with others.
Remember, the Lord is sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, and He created, owns and reigns over the kingdom! Yet, He wants us to share in this! And this is why He tells us exactly how it works. It is no coincidence that Jesus started His sermon on the mount with this statement of truth. The Lord wants us to inherit the kingdom of heaven! How? By having a close relationship with Him!!!
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