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Matthew 5:1-2a
Jesus has begun His ministry and has been traveling throughout the countryside preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all sorts of sickness, disease, and the demon-possessed. Matthew 5:1 (NKJV) teaches us, “And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.” This picture is of Jesus retreating to a somewhat secluded area where only His disciples followed Him. In Matthew 5:2 we learn that then Jesus began to teach His disciples. What follows has been titled, “The Sermon on the Mount.” This is a set of guidelines for those who have made a commitment to follow Jesus. Each sentence begins with the words “Blessed are” but the blessings that ensue are for those who actually do/portray these things in their lives. The main point in Matthew 5:1-2 is that the disciples of Jesus came to Him to learn, and He taught them.
This is an example that if we come to Jesus, we will receive blessings for being obedient to His teachings.
As we begin to study the “Beatitudes” in the beginning of Jesus’ “sermon on the Mount”, I ask you to open your heart, mind and strength to receiving these studies not as things that we deserve/are guaranteed to have, but blessings that God bestows on the lives of those who exhibit the traits/characteristics of the blessings. Furthermore, if one or more of these traits/characteristics are not found in you, I would ask you to do a self-examination of what you, and I, can implement in our lives to help us be reflective of the attitude of the disciples of Jesus; to follow Him to a secluded place and spend time with Him so that He can teach us. This secluded place can be anywhere that you need it to be in which you can spend some quiet time with Jesus: maybe when you first get up in the morning or before you go to bed at night; or maybe on your lunch break. It doesn’t matter what part of the day you make as your quiet time with Jesus – it just matters that you do so, and spend part of this time in prayer with Him. He waits to hear from us all each day. He wants us to tell Him about the things in our lives that we are not happy with, and He wants to hear about the things in our lives that we are excited about. He wants to help us through all of our lives – the good and the bad, but we must ask Him and bring these things to Him in obedience and sincerity to Him each day.
If you have trouble doing this, I have an idea that might help; look at it from the perspective that Jesus is anxiously waiting for you to ask Him to help you. As if He cannot do anything to help you unless you ask Him to do so. Because that’s the way love is. God offers His love to us in Christ Jesus, but we must accept it and tell Him that we do before the love that He has for us can be magnified in our lives. We have to do our part – to believe in Him – that is our part – believing, and He will help us through everything we bring to Him. He wants to have a relationship with us, but a relationship takes two; will you have a relationship with Him is the question.
Dear LORD,
You are Almighty God. You have always been and always will be. You created us in Your image with intent to have a relationship with us – to teach us if we will come to You – if we will follow You to a secluded place each day, as did the disciples of Jesus in Matthew 5, and have a personal time with You. A time that You may teach us the things that will bring blessings to our lives. We all want the blessings LORD; please help us to see that we must do our part of believing in You and following Your teachings to receive the wonderful blessings that You have waiting for us – in Christ Jesus! In Jesus name I pray, amen.