March 2
The new you… inheriting the earth
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)
Before we leave this beatitude, I felt it would be good to reinforce one last thought.
We must see that the ways, and the message, of Jesus are radically different from the ways of this world – or from the “natural” ways we have all grown up observing. This 
is an all-important distinction, because the tendency (for most of us) is to try and blend the ways of Jesus with the ways of the world. We make Jesus (and His ways) fit into our way of doing things – and we try to make the life of Jesus conform to our lives, rather than the other way around.
The problem with this is that we will always find ourselves disillusioned and uncertain (about Christianity) until we come to the liberating conclusion that Jesus’ way must be the only way – and that to try and blend Jesus into our lives is much the same as not having Him at all!
This is not my opinion. This is what Jesus was always saying. His bottom line was always an all out surrender to His way. No blending of kingdoms. No exceptions.
This is at the heart of the beatitudes. They all cut against the grain of how we have been ingrained to do things. So much so, that they sound strange to our ears.
In the case of the meek “inheriting the earth…” that’s just crazy talk! No one who is humble or gentle gets anywhere in this world. Success is built upon seizing the moment, working harder than the other guy, and upon promoting yourself first and foremost.
This is the way the world thinks.
And they are right.
If all you want to do is get ahead in this world, get the things you want (or think you deserve), or get to be a success (in other people’s eyes), you have to pour your life, your energy – your very soul into the getting.
And if this world is all there is to get – then I suppose that very approach to life, and living, should be embraced and celebrated. And we should all strive to get all we can… for, in the end, that is all that really matters.
But there is this thing within us that refuses to accept that this life is all that there is. There is more. There is something beyond. And that something goes on forever.
God put that there. And God came to tell us about why it is there.
Jesus came, not only to invite us to share in that other world, but to tell us all about it… before we ever go there. He came to teach us HOW things work in that other world… He came to show us HOW that world works within this world.
And HOW that approach makes all the difference in our lives… now!
Christianity is not just about what is yet to come… it is about what that “yet to come” can do for us in the now – and how it makes this life the best it can be…
Prayer focus: God, help me to see the importance of total surrender to Your ways!
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