Blessed… what does that word mean to you? This word, I think
is a personal word. I believe that this word takes on its own meaning to
each and every person. It becomes personal, so when one person says I am
blessed, or the Lord has blessed me, it draws another image in the mind of the
person listening. What we do know is that the person blessed has received
something valuable from God.
When I think of blessed or being blessed I can go a multitude of
ways. I can go from monetary blessings to physical blessings. I
think that the blessings of God happen to us every day and most of us,
including me, are too busy to see them. I think we are always looking for
the blessing, or really the miracle, to notice that the blessings are coming at
us constantly.
In Matthew 5:3 he is starting to discuss the blessings that we
have received from Jesus. In this particular verse I saw my grandmother,
who to me is the definition of blessed. She was the definition of blessed
because she recognized the blessings even in the times of struggle. She
recognized that even when she was in a low part of her life she was still
blessed because she was able to serve a God that loved her.
She acknowledged the small things in life as blessings, such as
hot water, sunshine, birds, trees and flowers growing in her yard. She
saw all the daily blessings that many of us would consider to be small, and she
received them, so they never went overlooked by her. She loved a
cup of coffee and she even saw the blessing in a cup of coffee.
I didn’t realize it then, because I was so used to hearing her
say, thank God for hot water, or thank you God for my family, but she was
acknowledging her daily blessings.
My grandmother would even thank God through her trials. She
would thank Him for getting her through another day, or for giving her the
strength to handle a situation. She would thank God for giving her people
in her life who have loved her and left her, or who have loved her and hurt her
but she thanked God for them anyway. She saw the blessing in each
situation.
I am sure if she were here today, and we were discussing this, she
would be surprised that I noticed or even remember these things, but they truly
impacted me. She was able to rest and find peace in her Heavenly
Father.
In verse three Matthew says Blessed (happy, to be envied, and
spiritually prosperous- with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and
salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the
humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven!
After hearing how I have spoken about my grandmother would you be
surprised to know that she died with about $2,000 in the bank. Would you
be surprised to know that she didn’t have cable television, she had a cell
phone, but only because I “surprised” her with one, she had an old used van and
she lived in a trailer. She wore second hand clothes and always
shopped at discount stores.
But and this I think is a big but, she always had plenty!
She never lacked! She lived on a fixed income, and had for as long as I
could remember, but she always had more than enough to give away. She
would give you food, a ride, flowers from her garden; she would clean your
house, burn your trash or take care of your family, as if it was her own.
She would find things at garage sales and buy them just in case someone would
need it, and nine times out of ten, someone always did.
She was poor in material things but prosperous spiritually.
Her soul prospered even though by the world’s standards she had
nothing. I know that I am very biased when it comes to her, but to
me, she was the perfect grandmother and a great role model of verse 5:3.
My grandmother’s blessings had a ripple effect that was felt for miles, states
even and when she was passing away the room was filled with
love. There was sadness of course, but the love that she was
able to give, to people she knew and didn’t know, is the ripple effect, that I
am sure is still lingering on even after almost nine years of her being in
Heaven.
We all have a legacy here on earth and we get to choose what that
legacy will be. Did my grandmother make mistakes in her life? Yes,
many! But you see even though, I know the mistakes, and lived through
some of the mistakes, I don’t remember them, because her heart was never a
mistake. The blessing of knowing her was never a mistake. The
ability to stand in the light or shadows, of someone who had an attitude such
as hers, can never be a mistake.
I will make bad choices and decisions that might alter my ripple
effect in life as well, but if I keep my heart right, attached to my Lord and
Savior and love out of His blessings and abilities, then my mistakes shouldn’t
be remembered either. We value the things we can hold with our
hands and yes, there is nothing wrong with having nice things, for my
grandmother, that was not important to her, but to put the value on things over
the value of another person’s spirit and heart, now, that’s where we are wrong.
There is a blessing in each day and a blessing in every person you
come across. We should learn from Matthew 5:3 and realize that yes, we
can be blessed materially but to be blessed spiritually and to be humble and insignificant
in this world and give the glory to God, instead of yourself or your fellow
man, is truly living the blessed life.
Oh, my grandmother had this one so right, and because of that I
will say, thank you God for this hot water and thank you Lord for giving me her
as an example of an open, blessed heart!
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