Louise Gevers

“Now when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ ” Matthew 5:1-3

Have you ever gone for a picnic with your family to the beach or to a dam to discover that when you arrive almost everyone in your town has had the same idea? There are people everywhere, laughing and chatting while squealing children run through the crowds, causing chaos. Can you imagine the scene?

Well Jesus had much that He wanted to teach His disciples, but needed a quiet spot. With so many people milling around that there was hardly anywhere to walk without being jostled or bumped, He went up onto a mountain to sit with them, where they would be able to talk uninterrupted. It was in this setting that He taught them things that would revolutionize their lives and change their understanding forever. We need to hear this too!

Using the Beatititudes, the “Blessed are” statements, He taught about true happiness and contentment which come from spiritual values, and last forever. He taught that the qualities that are not greatly valued or sought after in society: meekness, humility, mercy and righteousness; poverty of spirit, purity, persecution and peacemaking are essential in God’s eyes, and bring great reward: Psalm 1:1 says, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night ... the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

Can you identify with this?

Jesus begins with the “poor in spirit” because the condition and attitude of the heart are at the crux of the matter in the kingdom of heaven, which begins while we are here on earth. In Matthew 6:33 He says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Jesus teaches about the state of being richly blessed and eternally contented. Happiness is something for which every person on earth searches, but few find.  Often we believe things in books, magazines, or on the screen which give us impressions of what happiness is, but once we’ve been to that place, acquired those desirable things, or indulged in that luxury, we find that we are again empty, again searching. The happiness did not last.

Jesus alone has the key to everlasting happiness.

Will you find it?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have promised true happiness to the poor in spirit because they are the ones who know that they are totally dependent on You to live in a way that pleases God. Help me to understand that there is nothing good that I can do in my own power, but submit my will to Yours. Please give me the grace to do this. Amen.