Being Blessed

 Being Blest

April 4, 2025

Matthew 5:1-12

The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes

1When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

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 gentle, 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 have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Do you want to be blest? In the sermon on the mount, Jesus started off by listing the kind of people that are blessed. It’s not a list that you would find in any popular self help book about getting ahead in business. But it is a list that describes a faithful disciple of Jesus. Meek, gentle, righteous, just, peacemaker, etc. But one attitude that is not listed, but that I think is also very important is gratitude. 

Colossians 2:6-7

6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and establishedin your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

When you walk in the Spirit for awhile, and He establishes you in your faith, you will be blest, and you attitude should be an overflowing gratitude. That is one area that I’m not very good at. When we consider all that the Lord has brought us through, all that he has taught us, and all the blessings that he has given into our lives, we need to be grateful. When you look at the beatitudes, not everything in that list appears to be a blessing at the time; poor in spirit, hunger and thirst for righteousness, being insulted and persecuted. But the Lord said that you are blessed when you go through these things with the proper attitude, and a key part of a good attitude is gratitude. We once has a pastor that made up little signs saying “Attitude of Gratitude” which we out in our bathroom mirror so we would be reminded every morning to be grateful. 

So Lord, help us to be grateful for all of our blessings, even when they don’t look pleasant at first. As the old hymn said, 

“Count your blessings, 

Name them one by one.

Count your blessings,

See what God has done.”

So be blessed and be a blessing today.