# 36 2016 Dev. Mt. 5:5. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living with family, friends and others. All passages are taken from the NIV.
Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”.
This verse is part of “The Beatitudes”. The meaning of the word beatitudes is: “A state of absolute bliss” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). On this earth that state is the result of human kindness. Therefore, Jesus starts out with the attitudes of the Kingdom of Heaven. The sermon is about our attitudes, our actions and our ethics as people belonging to the “Kingdom of Heaven”
“Blessed are the meek”. What does it mean to be blessed? Is Jesus talking about material blessings, spiritual blessings or both? He is talking about both but blessings can be very modest and spiritually poor indicating the we don’t have all the answers; blessings are relative to understanding how God works in our lives and to what God calls us to do for the “Kingdom of Heaven”. Having that understanding and acting on it go together in God’s call to serve and translates into His blessings by grace.
What is meant here by “the meek”? It does not mean being a doormat or easily bowled over. No, it means meek but strong, unassuming, not aggressive, also realistic. Jesus is meek, yet he holds all of God’s power, more power we are able to comprehend. In meekness we have the power of the Holy Spirit working in us and through us.
What does it mean to inherent the earth? This is reference to the New Heaven and New Earth but also to this earth but not in the way the world sees it. We belong here and yet we don’t as long as it is a broken place. Therefore, in this life we have hope as from the very beginning as we read it in Heb. 11: “13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left; they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them”. Amen!
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