Coming As Paupers

Matthew 5

The Sermon on the Mount

1Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

2And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

...

Salt and Light

13"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

"The Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the disposition that ruled his own life, and all the standards of God gives are based on that disposition. The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces despair in the natural man- the very thing Jesus means it to do. As long as we have a self-righteous, conceited notion that we can carry out Our Lord's teaching, God will allow us to go on until we break our ignorance over some obstacle, that we are willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him."

~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Blessed are those who can grasp the weight of their own depravity, and the greatness of His glory.

Blessed are those of us who know who they are in God's eyes.

I find that pretty amazing; that God would simply ask us to realize our need for Him (in hunger and thirst) and to do something about it. He doesn't send us on a journey to find Himself up a river in an inner tube without a paddle, no. He says "If you want me, come in my direction. I'll come find you." I know so often that I struggle to rest in my walk with/ pursuit of God, thinking that if only I was like this one person, then… if only I could get over this one fear, then… if only I could get the will power and self-control to read my bible every day and write fantastic revelations in my journal, then… then I would be close to God. Then we would have a good relationship. But it's wrong. It simply is. Jesus Christ didn't sit atop a mountain and preach about quiet times or what a "decent Christian" would look like. I think he'd think it ridiculous if someone were to come up to him and ask "Jesus, how many chapters of the Bible should I read every day?" He wouldn't see it that way. He doesn't. He asks us to want Him wholeheartedly; he'll even take our prayers of wanting to want Him more, just so long as it's genuine. He's not after us being decent people or acceptable Christians, getting by enough to live at peace with our families and maybe convert x number of people in our lifetime. He just wants our heart, all of it. And there's no formula except the words "Go for it!". Isn't that beautiful?

Well there's my thought. What's yours?