MEEKNESS

A few weeks ago Greg started a great series on the beatitudes. Don’t know about you, but I’ve heard countless sermons on Matthew 5:3-11 and studied the same in various Bible classes, but never quite understood its meaning until now. I’ve told Greg before, have written about it before, and will continue to sing his praises, but Greg presents things in a way that makes it easier to comprehend and the mind (at least mine) doesn’t seem to wander quite so much. (Yes, call me a fan and Greg’s going to owe me big time for all the nice things I‘ve said.)

Today’s “beatitude” was “Blessed are the meek….” What does meek mean? The correct synonyms found in a thesaurus would include mild, gentle, tame, and patient, but most would agree with Steve’s “namby-pamby.” Yes, most people would think that meek people are weak people; or as I would call, a “total wimp.” But that could be further from the truth as Greg said, “Meekness takes more strength than most of us can muster.”

One question in particular caught my attention--“Do I do what I want to do, or what God wants me to do“? Greg mentioned a few things he should have done but chose not to do and was even embarrassed to admit to them. Made me stop and think about my own should haves, could haves, and would haves. We all make excuses, have other plans, and don’t like to be inconvenienced. My biggest excuse--it’s out of my comfort zone. Will definitely need to start changing some things and think more of the other person and less of myself.

With Chipper’s beautiful mug splashed up on the screen, Greg made an analogy of his half-obedient “psycho pup” to those of us who are “mostly” obedient. Really, what good are we if only obedient part of the time? Guess that would make us a part-time Christian. Doubt that’s what God has in mind.