Path to the Blessed Life

Path to the Blessed Life Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 New International Version In my mind the path to the blessed life sort of looks likes the yellow brick road from the Wizard of Oz. My imagination presents a gold path that is lined with precious jewels. I imagine the occasional rest stop where I can pick up pocket sized blessings that will tide me over until the big blessings come. As I get nearer to the end of the journey, I can see a big welcome sign shaped like a hand with a pointing finger. The words on the sign are, "Acquire Blessings here". But the truth is that the path to the blessed life is paved with hopes not yet realized and with tears of others before us. You will leave a trail of your own hopes, sort of loaning out your faith to weary travelers. I like that Jesus says we can be blessed. I like that God sees our circumstance and makes accommodation for our varying conditions. But I don't like where I have to be to receive His blessings. I have to be hungry to be fed and I need to mourn to receive comfort. It seems we need to be emptied of something to receive God’s endowment. Have you ever noticed that Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven is ours, but the other blessings are in keep for us? He says that we will receive comfort, our daily needs, mercy etcetera. Maybe Jesus is saying that in the life to come, He will dole out the stuff we need to overflowing. Or, maybe he is giving a warning; if you want the blessed life, you will need to mourn, to be hungry and to hope to reach the ultimate destination. And you know what’s funny? When we reach the “end of the road”, I think we will look back and see that instead of acquiring the blessed life, we were living it all along.