May 23 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

If you were asked to come up with a list of things you would like to see developed or changed in your life, what would your answer be? The changes we want are often outward oriented, things that put us in better stead with others. The beatitudes, however, place us before the spiritual implications of Christ’s rule in the life of a person regenerated by the Holy Spirit. That change starts in the heart.

The beatitudes state no demands but express the effects of grace in the life of the believer. Apart from God’s grace we cannot exemplify any of these character qualities; they do not come to us naturally. If we are to witness as a light in the world (Mt 5:14) we are to start where Christ begins—with these virtues of the heart. Jesus impresses on us that the Lord wants pure hearts, whole hearts, undivided hearts and trusting hearts.

The beatitudes are not some unusual display of Christianity, but they are about ordinary life in the church today. They make us aware of the major difference between the values and mentality of the kingdom of heaven and the attitude and values of this world. Jesus highlights the norms of the kingdom. Those who follow them experience blessings and happiness the world does not know. Jesus demands that we view life from a heavenly and godly perspective as God sees it, and not through the eyes of our own ideas and opinions or any philosophy of man. The Jewish rabbis, teachers of the law and Pharisees were proud of their own religiosity and looked down on anyone who was not on the same spiritual level as they were. Israel’s leaders flaunted their knowledge of the law and their position as children of Abraham.

What Jesus teaches in the beatitudes takes His disciples to the heart of Christian life. What are the virtues and the attitudes of those who are in Christ? Followers of Christ recognize their own poverty, mourn because of their sins, hunger and thirst after righteousness, and show mercy to others. Are you living as a child of the kingdom? Do the beatitudes shape the attitude of your heart?