In Line With the Divine Agenda

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”—Matthew 5:5

Our lives are ordered and lived between our preferences, personalities, passions, problems and priorities. Christ knows our innermost feelings, strengths, and desires and speaks to them. In what is known as The Sermon on the Mount, He outlined what it means to enter into and live in the kingdom of God. In our verse for today, our Lord describes the happy state of those who are “meek.” “Meek” is an all-encompassing term that carries a great deal of meaning: having humility, gentleness, power under control, submissiveness, and patience. It means being like Jesus. But what does that look like practically?

Being “meek” means considering God’s agenda above our own and allowing God to direct events in our lives. It doesn’t mean that we do not assert ourselves in decision-making, or in pursuing dreams, goals, or ambitions, but it does mean allowing ourselves to be directed by God, led by His Spirit, ordering our lives to His priorities, considering one another above ourselves, and making sure that we trust in God’s timing. And when we do, we are given the promise that we shall “inherit the land.” “Inherit the land” is part of the Jewish understanding of inheriting the Promised Land. While we are not a part of ethnic Israel and receiving the promises of the earthly land area of Israel, we are among the elect of God, living in a spiritual exile on this earth (1 Peter 1:1), awaiting the day when we will enter into the Promised Land of God’s eternal presence.

Our passionate pursuit of God enables us to submit ourselves to Him and to others in the knowledge that we are not trusting in man, but ultimately in God, placing our faith in His direction and timing for what we do. May we not pursue our own fallen desires, and force our own agenda, but graciously submit ourselves to His agenda, falling in line with the plans that He has set forth, for His glory and our joy. Amen.