In 2 Timothy 2:15 [ESV], the Apostle Paul writes, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” We know that it is extremely important to study God’s word diligently for ourselves because as Paul later instructed Timothy, 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 [ESV]) If we do not study assiduously and persistently for ourselves then we can be misled by others into going down a road we never should have taken in the first place. We also could come to some wrong conclusions that could be devastating to us personally, even to the detriment of our place in eternity.
When we contemplate God’s word, we must be cognizant to remember to study it in context. This should always be the case, but I believe it is particularly true when it comes to applying the teachings of Jesus found within what have come to be known as the Beatitudes. Take, for example, Matthew 5:4 [ESV]. Jesus states, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” I recall seeing a movie adaptation several years ago of the life of Christ, and within that film the character playing Jesus was seen watching a woman in her grief with the tears flowing down her face as she wept unceasingly while following a funeral bier carrying the body of a loved one. The actor portraying Jesus was then shown to approach the woman, put his arms comfortingly around her, and saying, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” In the movie, the woman’s sobbing and tears immediately ceased upon hearing those words.
I am not trying to be too critical, but this is not the type of mourning of which Jesus spoke. If this were true then all anyone needed to do to enjoy the blessings of His Kingdom was to grieve over the death of a loved one! But it is not mourning over the death of a loved one that Jesus is referencing. Jesus is speaking of a person being so mournful at the sinful state of his spiritual condition that he will be moved to come to God humbly and receive forgiveness of his sins. As the Apostle Paul told the church in Corinth, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10 [ESV]). It is this type of godly grief that Joel speaks of in Joel 2:12-13 [ESV]: 12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.
May you cast aside your pride and come to the Lord on His terms in all humility! May He bless you and comfort you in the knowledge that all of your sins have been forgiven!
When we contemplate God’s word, we must be cognizant to remember to study it in context. This should always be the case, but I believe it is particularly true when it comes to applying the teachings of Jesus found within what have come to be known as the Beatitudes. Take, for example, Matthew 5:4 [ESV]. Jesus states, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” I recall seeing a movie adaptation several years ago of the life of Christ, and within that film the character playing Jesus was seen watching a woman in her grief with the tears flowing down her face as she wept unceasingly while following a funeral bier carrying the body of a loved one. The actor portraying Jesus was then shown to approach the woman, put his arms comfortingly around her, and saying, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” In the movie, the woman’s sobbing and tears immediately ceased upon hearing those words.
I am not trying to be too critical, but this is not the type of mourning of which Jesus spoke. If this were true then all anyone needed to do to enjoy the blessings of His Kingdom was to grieve over the death of a loved one! But it is not mourning over the death of a loved one that Jesus is referencing. Jesus is speaking of a person being so mournful at the sinful state of his spiritual condition that he will be moved to come to God humbly and receive forgiveness of his sins. As the Apostle Paul told the church in Corinth, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10 [ESV]). It is this type of godly grief that Joel speaks of in Joel 2:12-13 [ESV]: 12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.
May you cast aside your pride and come to the Lord on His terms in all humility! May He bless you and comfort you in the knowledge that all of your sins have been forgiven!
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