Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Today we continue on in the study of Matthew with a look at the meek. Probably if you asked someone what does it mean to be meek most people would probably say something like humble or lowly esteemed. In this verse it is easily to paint a picture of a weak individual simply based on the surrounding verses, but the meek are anything but weak. In fact the meek are the opposite of the weak.
In this verse what Jesus is referring to is the strong. Not the strong physical but instead emotional, physical, and spiritual. Jesus is referring to someone who demonstrates a life of separation from worldly lusts and is strong enough to abstain from temptation. This characteristic is seen over in over in the Bible as self-control. Today the world promotes an importance in self-esteem, but the Bible promotes self-control. Joseph was tempted to sleep with Potiphar’s (Gen 39:7). She probably was very attractive and had money and power. She was the wife of his master, and if anything ego alone could have been a motivator but he said no. Self-control is the ability to live Holy when nobody else will know what you did or did not do.
This is not a characteristic you just decide one morning to have. This is a product of the Holy Spirit living in your life, but not just residing instead controlling. We can be saved and have his spirit live in us, but in order for him to control us we must be spirit filled and that is difficult point to achieve. In order to have such a control in your life you have to surrender and let go. Isn’t that funny. To have control we must give up control. What I mean is this: we have to quit justifying our sin to our self and instead give temptation to him. We do not have the ability to defeat Satan. We cannot out smart him. The only thing we can do when he tempts us is resist him. He cannot make us sin. The Bible says that if we resist the temptation the devil will flee from us. James says “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life.” (James 1:12)
Jesus says in verse 5 that the meek will inherit the earth and in Psalms 37:11 it says that they “shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace”. This is the desire of God for the lives of his people. At some point in time we have to make a decision. Am I going to live the life I ought to live or am I going to live the life I am called to live? We are not going to ever be perfect. God sent his son so that we could be made perfect, but we can live more holy than what we are. Every person that may ever read this has room to grow, and God expects us to do just that. Sin is a dangerous thing. James says that each one of us are “tempted by our own desires and when the desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin is full grown it brings forth death”. (James 1:15) This is why we live in a world filled with sad stories. Not because God is unfair or unloving but because man keeps submitting to desires of the flesh instead of the desires of God. Children are not born addicted to crack cocaine because God is unfair. Most people will agree with that because they see a mother who has wasted her life and she did it to the child. The same people who will say that will look at a family who goes to Church does all the “right things” but has a child with some horrible disease and say how can a loving God do this? There is no difference in a child born in drug addicted poverty than one born in a Church home. The sin corrupted world has destroyed all flesh. We are all diseased and we all are going to die. However while our desires leads to death our God gives good gifts, and every gift which comes down from the Father in heaven is good. (James 1:17)
Praise be to God he does not want you to be destroyed by sin but instead he gave his son (the perfect gift) so you can be spared (the undeserving gift) by his grace (the gift that can not be repaid)!
Jesus Saves,
RR
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