“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:6-8)
As Christians, we often concentrate so heavily on what we can get and need from Jesus that we forget to focus on Jesus. We get so wrapped up in the cares of this world that we lose sight of our goal – to be like Jesus. Paul said that his number one goal was to know Jesus. Paul understood that when Christians know Jesus, they become like Him; and when they learn how to be like Jesus, then they can do the things that He did. I call this lifestyle motivation the “Be-Attitudes.”
In Matthew 5, there are nine “be-attitudes,” which break into three sets of three. Within each set, there is a “thesis” (a major truth), an “antithesis” (an opposite truth), and a combination of the two, or a “synthesis.” For example, if hydrogen is the thesis and oxygen is the antithesis, the synthesis of the two is water.
The “be-attitude,” in verse 6 explains that to be Christlike, we need to hunger and thirst after Jesus: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” This is our “thesis.” Hunger and thirst are two basic needs of life because they are intrinsically linked to self-preservation. But do you see what Jesus said here? He is telling you to use these survival instincts to seek Him through righteousness. You must become attached to the source of life – the tree of righteousness – not to the things of this world. Then, you will be filled; you will receive His kind of right thinking, right acting, and right speaking. However, you must be careful not to become so righteousness-conscious that you become legalistic.
That’s why Jesus added the antithesis in verse 7: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Mercy says, “If you blow it all, I’ll love you anyway.” God wants us to be righteous, but He wants us to be merciful, too. Jesus loves you just the way you are! That’s mercy! But to major on mercy can be dangerous because if you are only merciful, then you will be a pushover. You must temper mercy and righteousness together.
So that leads to the “synthesis.” Verse 8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” To become so like God that you can see Him, you need to combine righteousness and mercy in your life so you can have a pure heart. When your heart is pure, you will see God in your circumstances.
There’s something else interesting about mercy and righteousness. Psalm 85 says: “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.” Mercy and truth together, and righteousness and peace go together. I believe this refers to the mercy seat. If you recall, there were two cherubim whose wings overshadowed the mercy seat. This was the place where mercy and truth abounded and righteousness and peace came together, foreshadowing the coming Prince of Peace – and when these meet, they are in the presence of God.
Where do you experience the presence of God? There do you see Him? When righteousness and mercy “kiss each other” in your life. That describes the Christian life.
This blog post is excerpted from Marilyn’s 101-day devotional, Beautiful Inheritance.