A Week in Beatitudes: Matthew 5:4-6

Matthew 5:4-6 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” New King James Version (NKJV) “Great blessings belong to those who are sad now. God will comfort them. Great blessings belong to those who are humble. They will be given the land God promised. Great blessings belong to those who want to do right more than anything else. God will fully satisfy them.” Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) Mourning, meek and hungry. These are definitely not traits those of us who wear prideful banners of self-sufficiency deem great character. Yet, Jesus taught that in sorrow, we would be comforted. He declared that in meekness and humility we would inherit the earth. He proclaimed that our hunger and pursuit of righteous living would be filled. These are promises that may be hard to believe as we go through life in this world, but when we consider that God, who created this world, sent His Son Jesus to give us this message, we do well to accept it as truth. Many promises made have been broken by many people. However, until we finally accept that a promise has been truly broken, we find some way to keep hoping for it to be kept. Jesus came to give us hope. If we can hope for promises to be fulfilled by imperfect people like ourselves, we can surely put our hope in our Savior who died for our sin and has promised to return for our total deliverance. He did not promise us a life of constant joy from the world. He promised to be with us through every struggle and that He would never leave or forsake us in our troubles as we put our trust and belief in Him. He promised a future where our joy would be forever complete. He promised us eternal life with Him in God's Kingdom. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 NIV