Today’s reading is Matthew 5.
A pastor could preach on Matthew 5 for years and a devotional writer could write for the same. This chapter is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount which is the greatest sermon or speech ever written or given. My assignment is to write on the injustices and how the Spirit is promoting us to respond. With this in mind, I’ll focus on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12.
““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5:3-12
These verses highlight sacrifices, struggles, or injustices we may experience or even one could say for some of them, “suffer” in this life. People experiencing these are not typically people we would call blessed. The ones we would typically call blessed are those raising a trophy, winning an award, driving a luxury car, living in the large house, or making lots of money.
Thinking about this reminds me of a piece of a sermon from one of my favorite pastors, Francis Chan. He pulls out a rope that seems to be endless with a very small piece of black tape on it. He highlights that this small piece of black tape represents our life on this earth, while the rope that just seems to keep going and going forever as a eternity. He puts them in perspective by saying that most of us are living for the little black piece of tape and not the rope! This seems so silly when you think about how small the tape is and how the rope goes on forever! What a great perspective this brings. Shouldn’t we be living for the rope?
Whether we are facing some of the challenges or just lack of glory highlighted in the Beatitudes during our time here on Earth, we will be rewarded when we get to Heaven if we are living for Him! And Heaven and eternity are a lot longer and matter more then this life on Earth!
Let’s respond by choosing to live for the rope!