Have you ever thought the world would be better if Christians were in charge?

The truth of the matter is that for much of the history of Christianity, Christians have been oppressed to some degree. Even in those times when Christianity was the dominant religion in certain places, typically corruption took hold in the upper echelons of power and many Christians were still oppressed.

If you look around the world today, in most countries Christians are at least ridiculed and told to keep their religion to themselves, or worse, they are persecuted, jailed, or killed for their faith. From a worldly point of view, God doesn’t seem all that powerful since His people are so often subjugated.

Christians are meek.

Jesus said,

“My kingdom is not of this world.”

As Christians, we realize that we are less concerned with power and control and more concern with loving others and sharing the Gospel.

Think about it, Christians are commanded to be:

• Humble – We are to consider others as greater than we are.
• Servants – We are to love our neighbor as ourselves and treat others as greater than we are.
• Gentle – We are not harsh towards people. Rather we are kind, even when we correct others.
• Patient – We endure trials and wait on God’s timing.
• Holy – We are not to engage in the evil and deceitful ways of the world.
• Self-Controlled – We are to control our tongue, actions, and even thoughts by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Christians aren’t meek because we are weak. Christians are meek because we follow Jesus.

Jesus describes Himself as “meek and lowly”. Yet, Jesus was not weak. He is Almighty God. Yet, He humbled Himself, became a servant to all, even to the point of dying on the cross to redeem us. As God conforms us to the likeness of Christ, we become meek like Christ.

Just like being poor in spirit and people who mourn in the two previous verses are not commands but statements of reality, so here meekness is not a command. It’s a description of who we are as Christians and what life as a follower of Jesus is like.

Jesus described following Him as,

“taking up your cross”

Jesus also said,

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Jesus endured ridicule, persecution, abuse, injustice, and death. We are not greater than our Master. We can expect the same. But we also know that’s not the end of the story.

Much of the Beatitudes have an eye to Jesus’ second coming. They look to the full restoration of humans and creation in the new heaven and new earth. The promise of Jesus here does this as well.

In this life, we will endure much hardship and suffering. The wicked of the world will rule over us, ridicule us, abuse us, kill us. Yet, we will inherit the earth. And we will not inherit this earth in its fallen state. We will inherit the earth in perfection.

We will inherit an earth where:

• The lion lays down with the lamb
• There is no sickness or death
• We will drink living waters flowing from the throne of God
• We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever

This life in the fallen earth is short, even if sometimes it doesn’t feel that way. Compared with what is to come, it’s the blink of an eye.

Jesus is coming and He’s coming with your inheritance!

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for being with us in our suffering and lowliness. Truly, Jesus was meek and lowly. He knows what it is like to suffer. Help us to endure and to keep an eye towards that day with Jesus returns and we will inherit the new heaven and new earth.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

• Your family
• Your local church
• Your pastor
• Some of your fellow church members
• The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
• Your country and her leaders
• Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.