Is Gratitude Enough?

   When I think about being blessed my mind goes this way:

   I am blessed with good health.
   I am blessed with good kids.
   I am blessed with plenty of stuff.
   I am blessed to live where I do.
   I am blessed, etc .......

   I acknowledge that all that I have in this way comes from the hand of God. I am grateful to be in this position of being blessed by Him.

   When I read through the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, I think that they sound good, but they must apply to someone else in another time and place. I am not in mourning right now, but if I were, God would bless me in that. I do not feel poor in spirit, but if I did, God could bless me there too. I am not being persecuted, but God could take care of me in that.

   Maybe I am meek, but I doubt it. Maybe I could be merciful, but a lot of the time I am not. Perhaps I could be a peacemaker, but maybe I don't choose to be.

   All of these "blesseds" come from God, both the kinds that I ordinarily think of when I hear the word, and the ones that I ponder on when I read Matthew 5.

   The Beatitudes are not a set of rules and regulations. They are not simple platitudes that can apply to the "by and by". They are Jesus' words to live by right now. Do I really want to understand their full meaning, or do I just want to be grateful for those things that I can see, feel and touch.

   Gratitude is good, but there is more, much more.....

   Now if God will help me to "hunger and thirst after righteousness" perhaps I could understand more of the real meaning.