Spiritually Poor
Blessed are the poor in spirit . . .
Matthew 5:3
The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most well-known sermons given by the Lord Jesus, but the reference to the poor is often misquoted. In this great sermon, the Lord blesses the poor “in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). If Jesus had omitted the last two words, all there that day would have rejoiced, for they were all poor—but Jesus said “the poor in spirit.”
Hidden in those seemingly cryptic words was the first foundational secret of happiness. At first, it sounds like a contradiction. We usually think of people who are poor as being unhappy. But Jesus teaches that happiness can be found in spite of poverty. What kind of poverty did the Lord have in mind? Did He mean those who had very little of this world’s goods? No. Certainly they were included. But Jesus was speaking to people of every type—rich or poor, sick or well, educated or uneducated, young or old. God is concerned about every person on this planet, and the Lord's words were addressed to everyone in every circumstance and in every generation.
“Poor in spirit” is to be aware of our spiritual poverty. No one is more pathetic than he who is in great need and not aware of it. The body can be strengthened by food and water, but the soul cannot not be nourished apart from the Spirit of the living God. The soul, created in the image of God, cannot be fully satisfied until it knows God in the proper way. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
To know that you are “poor in spirit," is a confession that one is sinful and rebellious and utterly without moral virtues adequate to commend themselves to God. To be “poor in spirit,” is to known your need for God, and the salvation that is found only in the Messiah, Jesus. In the Lord's Parable of the Lost Son, only when the boy was able to admit his spiritual positivity, was he ready to be helped.
Bible Reading
Luke 15:17-19.
Prayer
Oh Lord, how excellent is Your Name in all the earth! You are my Refuge and my strength. You are my Light in the darkness, my Helper when I am poor in spirit and needy of heart. I know I can depend on You to be my Strong Tower. In the Messiah's name, I pray. Amen.
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