“For such as be BLESSED of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.” Psalm 37:20
I do not know about you, but here we are half way through this chapter and it seems like David is obsessed with the wicked, the evildoer, and the cursed being cut off. It can be quite easy for you and me also to find ourselves obsessed with all the wicked, the evildoers, and the cursed as well. But, I do not believe that is what David is trying to show us here. I believe that there were just as many in his day as ours, and I believe that he is reminding himself, because they seem to take up his world, how little they matter. In the process, we are also getting that gentle reminder … maybe because we need it as frequently as he did! Hmm?
Putting that aside, today I want to focus on the blessed. I am blessed! Are you blessed as well? A favorite hymn at Thanksgiving time is “Count Your Blessings (name them one by one).” When was the last time that you sat down and counted all of your blessings? Has it been awhile? Is it a little overdue?
I catch myself being negative a lot. There always has to be at least one pessimist in the group, right? Unfortunately, I take that role too seriously and too often. Instead, I need to get my vision refocused on God’s blessings instead. When our daughter was young and she would say something negative about something, we would tell her to then tell us three positive things about the thing that she just said something negative about. Boy, that changed the picture in a hurry! Maybe we need to try this in our lives!
The word blessed is found 290 times in the Bible. Nine of those times are found in one chapter … Matthew 5. Do you recall what this chapter is about? It is the “Sermon on the Mount” and is often referred to as the Beatitudes, am I correct? This section of scripture alone could be its own little mini-series.
What does the word blessed mean? Blessed means favor or gift bestowed by God; approval. We have already noted that it is mentioned nine times in Matthew 5. Have you noticed something else about the verses in the Sermon on the Mount? There is a pattern there. I had never seen it before, but when I was studying for this devotional, I read a comment that jumped out at me about this. All of these blessings (God’s favor or approval) are bestowed upon the most unlikely people and things, are they not? Is that not just like the God that we love and serve?
This is such a profitable reminder to you and I that we should not pattern our lives after the world and all it has to offer. Instead, we should focus on the qualities that are mentioned right here in Matthew 5 … poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hunger and thirst after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemaker, persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and when men will revile us and say things against us falsely.
Matthew 5 even goes on to tell us why He has blessed us … to be salt and light. How blessed are you? Now go forth as salt and light and share with the world what God has done for you!