Poor in spirit, rich in eternity

 This week's verse is Matthew 5:3

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Jesus is giving us a self-diagnosis here about our spiritual condition. But what does it mean to be poor in spirit?

If someone is rich in spirit, they already have enough. They don't need more. They have their own self-justification.

The poor in spirit, on the other hand, do not have enough stored up to live on. They have to lean on God and enter his kingdom to have enough. They can't make it on their own. The people who need grace and know it, who experience life in that context, are the ones who will find their way into God's kingdom, while the "rich" count on how good they imagine themselves to be.

We need more humility to see our condition for what it is. We need a daily conviction of sin and an understanding that we need what God offers us. The point at which we decide we have enough goodness saved up is the point we begin to build our own kingdom and no longer depend on the kingdom of God. But our kingdom will never be enough. We need to be in God's kingdom.

Jesus says the poor in spirit are blessed, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to  them. They need it and they know they need it. This is the condition we all need to be in. At the end of the day, we fall short of perfection. Rather than trying to be twice as perfect as we never were, or ignoring our faults to bolster our ego, we should be coming to Jesus at the end of the day for grace and power to change.

That's not to say that we shouldn't improve ourselves or correct mistakes. It's to say that God is clear about where our value and goodness comes from. It is paid in blood that isn't ours. If we imagine ourselves to be rich, it's because we're not counting our wealth in the right currency.

 Blessed are the poor in spirit. We still have time to ask for our debts to be paid. In coming to God for his grace, we enter into the kingdom of God.