THE BLESSED LIFE By Lakan Mariano “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Mathew 5:11-12 The beauty of language is that it allows us to communicate information, our thoughts and even our feelings. The problem with language is far too often, instead of what the speaker is actually saying, we redefine meanings of words by our experiences, our desires, our perceptions. One of those biblical words often redefined is the word blessed. We normally define blessing in terms of material prosperity, health, absence of trouble. We are hard-pressed to define persecution as blessing because we see our comfort and prosperity as the end of things. So we view persecution and suffering for the name of Christ as something weird and foreign to our life. Yet Jesus is very clear that we are blessed when we are persecuted because of Him. In fact, He told us that If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also (John 15:20). He did not say, maybe, but that they will persecute you also. The biblical concept of blessing has less to do with material prosperity or health or absence of trouble. Blessing has to do more with us experiencing God, even in the midst of trouble and hardship, and yes, persecution. See, the object of the Christian life is to know Christ. To experience His presence, His love, His grace, His goodness. The Apostle Paul who had everything going for him in terms of fame and wealth, prestige and pedigree, wrote, But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ... I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:7-8, 10-11). The biblical perspective on what the world has to offer: I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ. God invites us to Taste and see that the LORD is good (Psalm 34:8).
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 12:35:03 +0000
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