Blessed Are The Meek

God of every blessing, I invite You to shape my soul with Your words and inspire my life through Your works. Teach me to walk in the way of blessing.

Pause and pray

Today I am reflecting on another surprising blessing which Jesus announced in his revolutionary Sermon on the Mount, ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.’ (Matthew 5:5)

In 1966, New York musician and singer, Paul Simon, wrote a song which he recorded with Art Garfunkel,

‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit

Blessed is the lamb whose blood flows

Blessed are the sat upon, spat upon, ratted on.’ *

Words like these could start a revolution. The advertising industry doesn’t think like this. The global economy doesn’t work like this. The world says, ‘Blessed are the fighters, the climbers, the go-getters, the jet-setters’. Jesus, the Lamb of God, calls me to a better way.

Jesus, show me where I have been moulded by the values of the culture around me and not by the upside-down values of the Kingdom You came to bring.

Pause and pray

Many people are feeling uncertain and insecure right now. National economies are shaking. I name someone I know whose life and livelihood is being badly affected.

May Your kingdom come, Your will be done, in them.

Pause and pray

Meekness isn’t weakness. A meek person assumes a posture of humble trust that can stand firm in the face of trouble. A meek person is gentle, courteous, and kind to other people, but, man, can they be tough!

It was in a spirit of meekness that, on the 1st of December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the African American section of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her action sparked a movement to end racial segregation in America.

Meekness isn’t weakness; it is strength under control.

Lord, I yield to Your grace. Help me to choose meekness. Help me to resist the temptation to throw my weight around; to remember that life is not all about me.

Amen.