“Blessed are the Meek, for they shall in inherit the earth”
Inheriting something is always interesting…Sam Walton’s kids love the concept, as would you if your inheritance made you wealthier than, say, Mississippi. I on the other hand have only inherited acid reflux; needless to say I’m not crazy about the concept. None the less it is still an interesting concept; this idea that we can significantly alter the lives of those to come generations after us by “leaving them something”. It has always been a practice among the wealthy, it foundational in the realm of royalty, and modern medicine has now taught us that balding and heart disease are directly related to inheritance. I particularly enjoy how inheritance doesn’t discriminate. Rich, poor, pauper, or king we are all left something from the ones before us.
And as Christians this drastically affects our lives, primarily in two ways:
We undoubtedly inherited sin.
In the book of Genesis, somewhere around the front of the bible, God tells Adam and Eve, “do not eat of this particular tree” (I’m paraphrasing; please have a look for yourselves). Now, God has established the two in a garden, a marvelous garden I’m guessing seeing how God does things in grandeur ways; and out of everything wonderful He has provided, He directly forbids them to eat of this one little tree. Many of you know the story. In slithers the serpent (Satan) and He convinces Eve to eat of the tree. And it is how Satan persuades Eve to eat of the tree that is fascinating. Satan persuades Eve to disobey God by helping her think she is not disobeying but rather obeying God:
Satan: “You should eat of that tree”
Eve: “I can’t, God forbids it”
Satan: Certainly not, he wants you to do whatever you want, enjoy the garden”
Eve: “Nope, I pretty sure He meant it, any tree but that one, something about good and evil”
Satan: “Exactly, God knows that if you eat if it you’ll know more, and be more like him”
Eve: “Well that seems harmless; I love God and desire to be more like Him…”
She eats of the tree, not out of evil, but out of a desire to be more like God, much like you and I want to be more like Jesus. The only problem was she sinned; she blatantly disobeyed God in the process. Eve wanted to be like God, and who wouldn’t? God is good, kind, powerful, merciful, the Creator of everything; if there is anyone I have ever wanted to model myself after it is, and should be, Him. But Eve went about it the wrong way. I can soundly say that the majority of sin in our lives is us trying to do the right thing, but going about it the wrong way. You can’t be kind by being wicked, you can’t be strong by being weak, you can’t love by hating, and you can’t draw closer to God becoming more like Him, by being disobedient. It just doesn’t work that way. Satan fooled her, and because he did, we inherited sin.
Enter Jesus. He is born (somewhere around the beginning of Matthew) and grows up to be a fine, many would say perfect, young man. Knowing His purpose and beginning His course, Jesus follows the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. During this time Jesus makes a conscious effort not to eat anything, and for forty days and nights he fasts. Then the bible says, “Jesus was hungry”…imagine that, and history, in true fashion, tries to repeat itself:
Satan: “Hey aren’t you the Son of God?”
Jesus: “What’s it to you?”
Satan: “Well if you are, you look hungry, how about you turn these rocks into bread and we get this party started”
Jesus: “Listen B (get it), it is written: Man can’t live by bread alone but through God’s promises”
And just like that Satan’s plans are ruined. In an instant Satan realizes, and arguably has always known, Jesus would not fall for the same trick Eve did. The thing is, it wasn’t wrong for Jesus to eat. It wasn’t sinful, if anything it made sense, the bible said, “He was hungry.” But it was wrong to use divine power to meet basic human needs, especially when God had already promised to meet and fulfill those needs. God had, and Jesus knew this. Jesus knew that turning those rocks into bread meant disobeying the Father, turning those rocks into bread meant maybe the Father doesn’t always provide, and ultimately Jesus knew turning those rocks into bread made God a liar.
Jesus knew all this and wasn’t about to fall for any of it. Satan attacked Him at His weakest, a last ditch effort, and then discovered even at His weakest Jesus is more powerful than the darkness of this world. Jesus’ ability to do this came from His meekness. Jesus was the ultimate example of someone with their power, their passions, their instinct and impulses under control; more importantly under God’s control. It is people who reflect this spirit of Christ, who have the humility enough to know everything comes from and is because of God that will gain the new inheritance, they will inherit the earth. History continual confirms this, as if the bible was not enough. It was Brutus who killed Caesar out of greed and jealousy. Alexander the Great, in a drunken rage, hurled a spear into the chest of his best friend killing him. Napoleon marches into Russia, ego unchecked, only to be left freezing, starving, and defeated halfway through his campaign (an interesting fact, Hitler in his conquest of Eastern Europe, tries to take Russia marching in on the exact same day Napoleon did many years before him…only to be left freezing, starved, and defeated…). Time after time, good men, some argue great men, have inherited nothing because their lives ended under the strength of their own control.
“We cannot lead others until we have found our own direction in life; we cannot serve others until we have put aside self; we cannot be in control of others until we have learned to control ourselves.”
Those who give themselves over to God completely will gain this meekness. Those who give themselves over to God completely will indeed inherit the earth.
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