Well, I started the whole just reading the Bible this week. And to be honest, I haven’t gotten very far. I have been attempting to read it as if I have never ever read it before. So, I have been using a Bible without any markings in it…I started in Matthew because I really just want to understand the life Jesus calls us to. I can’t get past the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). Literally, I can’t. I have read those suckers probably 50 times. These crazy statements were the first that were really said by Jesus…I can’t shake the first one.
3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
As soon as I read verse 3, I felt engulfed by it. If I know that God blesses the poor in spirit, why is is so hard for me the pray for God to send me situations that make me realize my complete dependence on Him…? It’s irrational to read it, know that God blesses this, and then pray for it not to happen…Why have I been irrational for so long, indifferent to these words that Jesus spoke? Why have I been praying that God would protect me from being poor in spirit or well, just plain poor in possessions… ? It doesn’t make sense. In this case, my life doesn’t make sense…
Francis Chan said this in one of his sermons (the one that got me thinking about whether my life was “worthy of the Gospel”): “I am NOT saying that you need to be radical or extreme, I am saying that your life HAS TO MAKE SENSE! Our lives have to make sense in light of the Gospel. People should be able to look at your life and say, ‘You believe in Christ’s Gospel….I know this because when I read Scripture, I realize that I see it being lived out in your life every day.”
Praying that God will put me in situations where I realize that I am completely dependent on Him…even if it means losing it all. Such a intimidating thought, but I mean, Jesus said that He will bless me with the Kingdom of heaven.
Such beautiful, life-giving promises from Jesus…
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