Happies

4/18/2017

Matthew 5.3 “Blessed...” - Jesus

It’s my humble belief that the word, blessed is one of the most overused, misused, and misunderstood words in, for sure, the western world. That doesn’t mean there isn’t blessing or that one cannot be blessed; it’s just that our perception of blessing isn’t necessarily accurate, or blessed.

Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5, speaking of blessings, or ‘happies’. He speaks of nine happies and a glad in verses 3 through 12. He never once mentions money or possession; and He doesn’t speak of health. He does speak of: poverty, mourning, hunger and thirst; persecution, insult, and [vicious] liable; He mentions persecution three times. Jesus says happiness can be the result of all these things because, happiness, or blessing, isn’t because of what we have, but because of – wait for it – who we are and Whose we are.

We are God’s children, and God has us.

The world screams for happiness through the venues of health, wealth, life, liberty, and the pursuit of whatever it is that makes one happy. Your happiness is yours; mine is mine. But when we look at what we call blessings, God says they come from other sources than where we would look for them.

The chiefest happiness that ever was, is, or, will be, is God, and the saving knowledge of Him. Of course, it is one thing to know God, it is quite another just to know of God. When we accept who we are and whose we are in the understanding of blessing or happiness, we wouldn’t want anything or anyone else but God, regardless of our circumstances – good, bad, or indifferent. In God, we are blessed.

That is a hard pill to swallow in the western world where so much of happiness is valued by how much we have (or don’t have) of a, b, or c – or, x, y, or z. I have had conversations with people in the recent year who’ve expressed to me of how blessed they are with literally little to show for it. They happily blame God for their blessing, and gladly speak of it… 😊

True blessing comes from the seeds of true contentment and Jesus said to find contentment in poverty of spirit, is a great place to start. What Heaven values is different than what is valued on earth. Heaven proclaims blessing on the one who has God, and speaks of little else. They might seem too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good, but one cannot put a price tag on that which is priceless.

You can’t put a price on God’s blessings, or the values of Heaven.

I’ve spent many years looking in the wrong direction: I’ve focused on the values of earth. I wish I’da spent more time and energy believing what the Bible tells me than listening to the propaganda of Madison Avenue. But, I'm on a different path (in present circumstances) beginning to see things differently. Today I am more content in progress in that direction, than in previous pursuits…

Father, create in me a contented heart; and thank You for, as St. Paul said, supplying all my need out of the riches of Your glory which have only the price-tags of crucifixion and resurrection attached. Thank You for the path of contentment that only comes from You – Amen.