Saturday, September 12, 2009

Poor in Spirit

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5:3 (NASB) I have long pondered this verse. As a child I wondered how poor in spirit differed from being materially poor. When I memorized this passage as a teenager, this verse was the one of which I could grasp the practicality the least. Over recent years, though, I have begun to grasp more of what it means to be poor in spirit and thus inherit the kingdom of heaven. There is an idea here of clinging to nothing regardless of what, by the world's standards, we possess. The truth is that I have many possessions. I am not poor. True, I do not have the freedom to go buy whatever I want. We as a family have to watch our income versus outflow. But, we are not poor. But even with all of the "stuff" we have, I am learning to not cling to it. The stuff is here not to make me happy or to bring any sort of satisfaction to my time here on earth. Its purpose is to be a set of tools to equip me to serve the kingdom of heaven and do the Lord's bidding, bringing glory to His Name and guiding souls to Him. If I were to lose all of the stuff I have today, then tomorrow He would give me exactly what I need to continue to serve Him. After all, the riches of the kingdom of heaven belong to me, for I am His child! So, what is the challenge? To truly live as if I believe the above paragraph. To truly be poor in spirit. To truly have my eyes open to where my possessions lie and to not cling to these earthly possessions. Some days it is easy. Other days it is not. But, the more I let go of this stuff, the more freedom I feel. The more I let these possessions pass through my fingers, the more God is able to accomplish His purposes through me and through the possessions. So, I want more!

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