“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” —MATTHEW 5:5

Realizing we do not have what it takes to live the way God intended is what Jesus refers to in the first beatitude as ‘poor in spirit’. To mourn that poverty of spirit, as in the second beatitude, is repentance which is turning from dependence upon ourselves to dependence upon God. The logical and inevitable consequence of repentance is found in the third beatitude: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

Meekness is not to be construed with being timid or weak, a pathetic “excuse me for being alive” kind of attitude, but has everything to do with humility and submissiveness. Once we recognize our poverty of spirit and mourn it, we have no grounds for anything but genuine humility and glad, free submission to Jesus Christ as Lord.

As the mourning of our poverty corresponds to the fullness of the Holy Spirit, so our meekness corresponds to the Lordship of Christ. The Lordship of Christ is not an optional extra to the Christian life, but an indispensable ingredient. Paul writes, “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9). Jesus Christ is spoken of as “Saviour” 25 times in the New Testament, but He is described as “Lord” over 600 times. It is wonderfully true He saves, but His saving activity cannot be detached from His Lordship.

The disposition of a wholesome Christian life is one of meek, humble submission to Jesus Christ as Lord. Of the meek, Jesus said, “they will inherit the earth.” He does not say, “They will inherit heaven,” though they will, but “inherit the earth”. The person who has faced their poverty of spirit, mourns it and has submitted to Christ as Lord is the person who discovers what life on earth is all about.

Every human being has a blueprint for their life that is conceived in heaven. Long before we were born, God has a plan for our lives, but this does not mean its implementation is automatic, for it is not. We may live in complete disregard of God, His way and His will, in which case we are grieving the Holy Spirit and preventing Him from doing all that He would do in our lives. A true Christian lives under the authority of Christ and is taken up with His interests and purposes. It is at this point life on earth makes sense, as we begin to see it from God’s perspective. We are then able to live our lives with meaning and purpose, derived from our meekness of soul toward God.

PRAYER: I am greatly humbled by everything about You, Lord. Keep me in that spirit of submission and have your way in my life. Thank You, Lord.

TO REFLECT UPON: Am I living in humble submission to Jesus Christ as Lord?