Be-Attitudes #5 - Getting Your Heart's Desire Series

The Be-Attitudes #5 - “Getting your heart’s desire”

Matthew 5:6; 6:25-34

By James Galbraith

First Baptist Church, Port Alberni

February 4, 2007

Text

5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Review

We have, so far, looked at the first three Be-attitudes Christ shared with us.

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Seeing ourselves for who we really are, people in need of forgiveness. When we do this, we are then ready to accept Christ’s forgiveness and enter “the kingdom of heaven”

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Speaks to facing up to tragedy, feeling true sorrow not only for what hurts us but also for the sin within us. We cannot hide from our hurts, or bury our guilt. When we hand over our sin to God, he does forgive us, comforting us. When we face tragedy with Christ at our side, he will see us through.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Means to follow Christ’s example and live as servants to those around us. We may try to build earthy kingdoms in our own greed and efforts, but Christ tells us that to be truly rich, we put others in front of ourselves.

Introduction

This fourth be-attitude tells us to look at our desires.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

I looked at a comparison chart that placed the words,

“satisfied”, “well-adjusted” and “practical” in opposition to this verse.

Now, that doesn’t seem right. If someone calls us “satisfied”, “well adjusted”, or “practical” , we would usually take it as a compliment.

And so we should. As far as I understand the terms,

Being satisfied means not wanting any more than what we have. Some one who is satisfied doesn’t always want this or demand that - they see what they have or where they are and feel content.

I don’t relate to well to this, and I always admire those who do. I have a hard time not flipping through the latest Canadian Tire flyer, looking for just the right socket set to replace my “never-good-enough” tools. Same with the “hi-tech” section of the London Drugs flyer, or the latest Sears catalog.

My goal is to leave this sort of “wanton desire” behind me, and I think I’m making headway. That said, this is not the sort of satisfaction I’m talking about today.

Being well adjusted means that we have adapted well to whatever is happening around us. It is being the lone male presence in a room full of women, and still being able to keep your wits about you. I know that I’ve walked out of a few rooms thinking, “too much estrogen in there for me!”

It is being the new employee settling into the patterns of action in your workplace. It is also taking hardship in stride and adapting to the new realities that tragic events can bring.

All of us will “adjust’ in these kind of situations; we just don’t always adjust well. Being well-adjusted is exactly what it says. That said, this is not the quality trait I want to focus on today.

Being practical means that we’re quite useful in our own resources. Practical people are always nice to have around. They are the ones that can help you unplug your sink or fix the leak in your toilet, and will take nothing more than a cup of coffee in return.