THE MEEK - Matthew 5:5
Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
God tells us that Moses was a man who was very meek. (Numbers 12:3). In Matthew 11:29, Jesus commands us, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. God desires that you learn to develop a meek heart.
Most people when they hear the word meek, instantly think weak. Meek does not mean weak. We know that Jesus was meek, yet he had the physical strength to throw the money changers out of the temple. We know that Jesus was meek, yet he had the spiritual strength to stay on the cross and do the perfect will of God.
Moses was meek and not weak. Remember, Moses had the strength to work long hours judging the problems of the people. Moses had great faith and was able to do many miracles. In fact, Moses once had so much faith that he was able to bring water out of a rock when he struck it even though God had told him to speak to the rock.
In this passage, Jesus teaches us that those who are meek are blessed. A meek individual is a humble individual. The Greek word that we translate meek also can be interpreted as mild. We often allow our anger and pride to control our lives. We fail to see the hand of God in our life and as such, when something good or evil occurs, we either unjustifiably boast in our own abilities or we unjustifiably get angry at the world around us for doing such evil.
What is pride? Pride is taking the credit for those things that God and others should receive the glory. Remember, you of your own strength can do nothing. Any time someone complements you for something you say or do, you need to give credit to God and others for their influence in your life. When you accept the glory of the praises of man you allow pride to increase in your life and that pride will cloud your spiritual vision.
We need to be more like Joseph and Job. Terrible injustices occurred to these men, yet they did not allow their emotions to get the better of them. They understood that the great Creator God was in control of the universe and nothing could happen to them absent the permission of God. Because they did not get angry at God for the evil that occurred in their life, God was able to bless them and use them in a mighty way.
Do you desire the blessings of God upon your life? Then you need to change your life and start developing meekness. Learn to defeat the evil enemy of pride by being humble and giving credit to God and others for the things that occur in your life. In addition, you must learn to control your anger and learn to see the hand of God in your life when men do evil things to you.
Until you learn to be meek, why should you expect God to give you the world as your inheritance? God is able to use you to do many wonderful and mighty things, but first you must demonstrate your complete trust in God. Until you are willing to die to self, you will not be meek and you will not be able to live a life full of the blessings of God.
When you add knowledge of the ways of God, you understand that when you are living your life for yourself, you can never be truly content. You will never have peace as long as you are not resting in the hands of God. Until you understand who God is, you will lack the faith necessary to be meek and trust completely in God.