Reading With the People of God #11 Blessedනියැදිය

Focus of the month: (The Beatitudes)

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

- Matthew 5:3-12

We can’t but He did!

John Wooden was a follower of Jesus and the most successful coach in the history of the UCLA men's basketball program. During his tenure as coach, he won 10 national championships in a 12-year span. As a coach, he had very high expectations of performance and personal conduct for all of his players on and off the basketball court. He even had some expectations and rules regarding the personal appearance of all of his players no matter who they were or how good they were.

One of those players was a young man named Bill Walton. The story is told that one day Bill went into Coach Wooden’s office, knowing that Coach Wooden, at the time, had a rule against any of his players having facial hair such as beards, mustaches, etc. In that meeting, Bill Walton proceeded to tell Coach Wooden, in so many ways, that he didn’t think the rule applied to him anymore. To his surprise, Coach Wooden's response was direct and clear. He told Bill Walton that growing facial hair was his right and his choice to do so. He also proceeded to thank Bill for his contributions to the team and that he would be dearly missed! You see for coach Wooden, no one on the team was above the rules and above the consequences of choosing not to follow those rules!

I thought of this story as I read the Bible passages in the reading plan for today. Solomon had just accomplished a great thing for God by building the temple. There had just been a great feast with all the people in celebration of this accomplishment.

If I were Solomon, I would be feeling pretty good about myself. I might even be feeling that my need for God was not what it used to be. There might even be a tendency for an attitude like this to start to creep in: “Thank you God for your help on this but I think I can handle it from here.”

That, by the way, seemed to be the attitude deeply embedded in many of the religious leaders of Jesus day and still shows its ugly head in our hearts today if we are honest. But Jesus makes it clear that the Holy character of God has not changed and his commands are still his commands.

Bill Walton decided to follow Coach Wooden’s rules and stay on the team! He could do that. We, however, no matter how long we have been Christians, still need every day to depend upon the grace of God given to us through Christ Jesus. He took the consequences for our sins upon himself. We can’t but He did!

* Devotional primer contributed by Steve Moody, Elder Emeritus Cornerstone Community Church of Chowchilla.