Blessedness

Blessedness

 

Nothing we do can force God to act.  Salvation is not by our own influence.  It is solely by the grace and mercy of God.  It is similar to prayer.  C.S. Lewis once said, “Prayer doesn’t change God, it changes me.”  I believe that Lewis’ statement is exactly correct.  One of God’s attributes is His immutability or in other words the fact that God never changes.  So why pray?  If anything, our prayers, true prayers and not just words, reconcile our wandering heart to God.

When we find ourselves praying in earnest to be obedient, meek, of pure intentions, to be merciful, and desiring righteousness we also discover that we are, in part, living the Shemah found in Deut 6:5.  The Pharisees ask Jesus what the greatest commandment is and Jesus replies with an adaptation of the Shemah and adds, “to love your neighbor as yourself.”  Loving God and loving others fulfills the 10 commandments, the Shemah, and every other declaration for a follower of God.   So if we desire to love God and our neighbors and we are seeking diligently to be obedient and faithful in the ways of God, then we are also fulfilling that which is stated in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.  

If we live in such a way that we reflect a dedicated and obedient heart, then we are blessed by God.  The blessing is not due to our actions but because we find our joy in being faithful to our Creator.  These actions not only encompass the Beatitudes along with the rest of the teaching of Jesus but also it illuminates our deep, desperate dependence on God.  By attempting to truly be faithful we are shown our sinful nature, a nature that desires to rebel against the Spirit.  So blessed are those who know their need for God and seek to do His ways for they rightly understand their relationship with their Savior, Christ Jesus.     

I still view blessedness as a state of relationship with God.  Granted, God blesses everyone with His common grace of nice weather, pleasing music, and delicious food but I think the term “blessing” has perhaps lost some of it’s meaning.  God blesses us by granting us a deeper understanding of who He is by drawing us closer to Himself.  I fully accept that I can be completely wrong but this makes sense to me when I think of the relationship aspect between God and myself.  I am happiest when I’m most submissive to the will of God.  I have no fears or troubles that plague me because I know God is my shelter.  When I mourn, I mourn in part knowing that this life is not permanent and that soon I shall rejoice and glorify God in His presence.