Truly Happy
“Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
Beloved,
The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most quoted and
well-known sermons in the history of the world. The sermon is so popular
because it is so profound. Jesus
addresses everything from giving, to anger, to marriage, and to salvation.
Jesus begins His sermon with nine beatitudes or blessings which epitomize His
entire message. To be blessed means to be happy, but the happiness that Jesus
is advocating goes far beyond our temporal circumstances. Jesus pictures the
blessed life as one that is in a right relationship with God.
True happiness is found in being rightly related to God. The
first way to discover true happiness is to understand one’s need for God. Jesus
starts this excellent sermon, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” It seems
counter-intuitive to say that one is blessed when they are poor in spirit, but
God’s ways are often unexpected. The “poor in spirit” are those who recognize
their sinfulness in light of God’s holiness. Understanding one’s spiritual
bankruptcy is the beginning of having one’s debts cancelled. Colossians
2:13-14,
And you, who were dead in your
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with
him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by
canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
We will only have our debts cancelled in the cross when see
our need of the cross. And we cannot see our need of the cross unless we
understand we are poor in spirit. But when we see our debts, and turn to
Christ, Jesus says, yours “is the kingdom of heaven.”
Are you poor in spirit or proud in spirit? How you answer
that question will determine if you will be truly happy and blessed!! God wants
us to be happy, but we will only be truly happy on His terms. We may experience
moments of happiness without God, but those moments are fleeting and will never
last. If you want to be eternally happy, you must listen to the words of
Christ, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Be
happy, trust in Christ.