dar334

This morning after getting ready for another work day, I sat down at the kitchen table, coffee in hand, and checked my email.  I need to start my day with the Word so I signed up to get the Upper Room Daily Devotional delivered to my inbox and start my day with that.  After reading today’s devotional, I opened my current Sunday School Study book on James and turned to Lesson Three.  It instructed us to read chapter 1:9-11.  The first question was in regards to verse 9 and then it gave us “Optional” verses to look up that reference the same teaching.  The first optional verse was Luke 6:20 – Looking at his disciples, he said:  “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”  As usual, I went to the study note for Luke 6:20-23 and read “These verses are called the Beatitudes” …… the pondering began at the same time I heard Hotlips Houlihan in the living room and it was time to leave for work.

Throughout my morning, I found time here and there to research my thought pattern by turning to the worldwide web.  It was here I found Webster’s definition of  “beatitude”.  It’s a noun; 1) a state of utmost bliss and 2) any of the declarations made in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-11).

This sent me to Matthew 5:3-11.  To bring you up to speed, Jesus had been preaching throughout Galilee and news of him spread to Syria.  People were bringing him all who were ill with various diseases, those who were suffering severe pain, those who were demon-possessed, those having seizures, the paralyzed, and he healed them.  As I understand it, Jesus often retreated to remote places to pray and also to teach his disciples because upon his ascension to Heaven he would send them out to “spread the Word”.  Matthew writes in chapter 5 that Jesus went up on a mountainside and his disciples came to him there.  This is where he taught them the “Beatitudes” listed in verses 3-11.

The study notes tell us that God’s way of living usually contradicts the world’s.  You must be willing to give when other’s take, to love when others hate, to help when others abuse.  They are a code of ethics for all believers, they contrast kingdom values (what is eternal) with worldly values (what is temporary), they show real faith that Christ demands, and they show how the Old Testament expectations will be fulfilled in the new Kingdom.  It then goes on to say they are not multiple choice – pick what you like and leave the rest.  They must be taken as a whole.

I’m not going to list the Beatitudes here, I hope you will read and think about them for yourself.  You have the capability right in front of you, you don’t even have to get up from your chair to find your Bible.  The worldwide web is at your service, just search for Matthew 5:3-11 in whatever browser you use.  Do it.  I dare you.

In closing, reading this took about 3 minutes of your life you’ll never get back.  But on the other hand, it may have helped in getting you eternal life.

-dar