Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
The Bible is filled with things that are not “world friendly.” The Sermon on the Mount, from which our text is taken is filled with texts that fit this description. Here is an example: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, etc.” (Matthew 5:43) Another of these “outlandish” texts is: "Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” There are, unfortunately, not many people who take these seriously – including a lot of church members. The text for this article is another one of those texts that are definitely not “world friendly.” Why? First, we misunderstand what the word “meek” means. According to the Analytical Greek Lexicon, it means: “mild, gentle, kind, forgiving, benevolent, etc.” A person who has all of these qualities is a strong person, because one does not have these qualities without great faith and great discipline. A person who is meek is under God’s control. Meekness has been compared to the breaking of a horse. An unbroken horse is not fit for anything until it has been broken. When he is broken, the horse is under the rider’s control. That massive, and magnificent, animal could run, buck, or do whatever it wants, but he has been broken and does what the master wants. In other words, the person who is meek is under the master’s control and lives to do the master's will instead of his, or her, own will. These are the people that God can use to do His work in the world. For example, Psalm 25:9 tells us, “The meek will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach His way.” Those who are meek are teachable and able to discern God’s will, because they have surrendered their lives to God’s will. Second, we mistakenly interpret the word meek to mean “weak.” When we say that a person is meek, we say that they are weak and malleable. Nothing could be further from the truth. We should interpret the word as “strength” instead of “weakness.” Look at Numbers 12:3 for example, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which are upon the face of the earth.” If you know anything about Moses, you know that he was not a weak person. He was the man who guided the Jews through forty years of a trek through the desert from Egypt to Canaan. A weak man would not have been able to endure all of the hardships of the desert, a nomadic existence, not to mention all of the complaints of the people he was leading through the desert. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls.” No matter what you think of the word “meek,” you will have to admit that if Moses and Jesus were meek, then we would do well to consider meekness for our own lives. The world might call us weak, but God/Jesus calls us strong. Third, the text says that “the meek shall inherit the earth.” This is a gigantic and momentous promise. The promise is not just given here, for it is given in Psalm 37:11, “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” This is aptly described in Psalm 147:6, “The Lord lifts up the meek: He casts the wicked down to the ground.” History is littered with examples of this truth. Men have raised themselves up and thought that they could conquer the world. Alexander the Great was one of these men, and he died at the age of thirty-three without realizing his dream. The emperors of the Roman Empire almost accomplished this, but finally fell to the “unwashed” hordes. Adolf Hitler, comes to mind. His Third Reich was to last a thousand years, but it only lasted from the early twenties until nineteen forty five. Lenin, Joseph Stalin and all of the Russian leaders tried to take over the world, but they are all dead, and the world is not in their hands. But what this means is far more than a worldly kingdom. The meek will inherit the “New Heavens and the New Earth.” I want to be one of those – don’t you? We need to simply surrender our lives to Jesus Christ by faith, and let Him be our Master and guide. Do it! Bro. Joe
1 Comment
Margaret M Jones
9/21/2015 08:41:13 am
Good devotion to start my day!
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