Most Kind and Loving Lord, I have always thought of blessings as a dispensation of Your grace and love showing me Your fondness and favor. They seem to be rewards for demonstrating traits that You feel are appropriate to Your character or for obedience to Your commands. In the Sermon on the Mount Your blessings seem to act as a source of hope and joy despite the circumstances in which I might find myself. Often Believers come to You wanting to know how to please You or to find out their place in Your Kingdom. It seems that the amount of wealth and power a person accumulates is not really important to You. Instead, Believers should seek different blessings and benefits than the world has to offer. We should not focus on selfish, prideful, and worldly gratifications. Our focus must be on humility, sacrifice and service to You and others.
If I want to live for You, I must be ready to say and do what You ask of me. I must be willing to give when others take. Love when others hate. And help when others take advantage. Giving up my rights in service to others is what endears me to You and qualifies me to be a recipient of Your blessings. The Sermon seems to put forth a standard of conduct to which I must be willing to adhere. They contain what You say You expect in the form of “real” faith. To me “blessed” represents the promise of hope and joy for the well-doing I carry out as Your servant. The blessing I receive for being poor in spirit is a place in Your Kingdom. When I mourn, You will send the Holy Spirit to comfort me. When my desire is to be righteous like You, those yearnings will be satisfied. As I show mercy, mercy will be shown to me. If my heart is pure, I am assured of seeing God. If I suffer persecution for Your sake I will attain Heaven.
What You seem to be telling me is not to expect fame and fortune or a life devoid of struggles and conflict. Your Sermon promises I will be rewarded for walking in Your footsteps … they just might not come in this life. It is one thing to talk about You and Your Kingdom and an all together different thing to live for You and Your Kingdom. Your blessings bring happiness to my life and demonstrate Your pleasure with my thoughts and actions. I must distinguish between what the world offers (which are temporary at best) and what Your eternal values provide (which are meaningful and lasting). What the Sermon seems to promise is that by demonstrating the behaviors in it, You will be faithful in supplying the blessings that accompany them. Help me always seek You in all that I do and I am confident that Your blessings will follow. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
Deuteronomy 15:6 For the Lord Your God will bless You as He has promised …