6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel; but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
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The scriptures above are part of the Lord's sermon on the mount and immediately follow the beattitudes wherein the Lord delineates the attributes we should seek for ourselves if we would be His disciples. What an honor and a privilege it is to be invited to be one of His disciples...one of His friends. There is no greater honor or work than this, to seek the Lord through following His example. The blessings of discipleship are rich. The attributes the Lord would have us cultivate in our own lives, and which are most important to Him, and thus for us are to be meek, for He is meek; to be pure in heart and to hunger and thirst after righteousness. The Lord has asked us to show mercy, to be peacemakers, and to be willing to suffer persecution for His sake willingly.
These are Godly attributes and are difficult to develop in our own lives. But, because the path of the disciple is difficult, the Lord has promised to help us in our desires to follow Him! We can actually partner with with God. And, what's more we don't have to achieve saintly status to get the Lord's attention and help. The Lord doesn't ask anything of us that He has not already achieved in His own life perfectly. It may seem counter intuitive, but it's precisely because God is perfect that we can approach Him without fear of rebuke despite our weaknesses and imperfections. Therefore, when God asks us to forgive and we struggle or we fail in some other way to follow His example perfectly because God is perfect we can still approach Him without fear, because He is meek, humble, and lowly of heart. He is quick to forgive those who are really trying. That's why the scriptures say blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. The key to receiving God's spirit, and thus His divine help is to desire to be righteous which is very different from having already achieved it. The desire of our hearts qualifies us to receive God's spirit.
It's because of this fact that a man as flawed as myself has any hope. Because God is full of love and mercy, He can look past my imperfections as long as my sincere desire is to follow Him. And, He will help me despite my weaknesses as long as I keep trying. It is through this partnership and the access that God gives us to His mighty power that strengthens my faith and gives me hope for real progress toward developing those attributes in my own life, albeit imperfectly, that He has already perfected.
Many times people decline the Lord's invitation to partner with him in His work because they feel unworthy to do the things He may ask. They may feel at times separated and distanced from Him because of their sins and the guilt those sins bring. Who are we to presume that we might approach God, the mightiest of all! He is perfect in every way, and we fall short every single time. We really don't have any right to approach such a being, and he has every right to turn us away. But it is because He is perfect that through His grace He not only grants us this high privilege, but because of His perfect love for us, He yearns for our love and it is His greatest desire that we seek Him out.
We don't have to wait until we're good enough to pray, we can approach the Lord right now. We don't have to wait until we repent of all our sins before we return to church, God would welcome us there this week. And if you think you have nothing to offer others in the Lord's service, you are wrong. God takes the feeble efforts of imperfect men and women every day and allows them to help Him carry His work forward in ministering relief to His dearly loved children here on earth.
And, when we seek to do His will, our very lives become a living testimony of Him, because He infuses our works albeit feeble with the mighty power of His spirit and the Holy Ghost carries a testimony of our works into the hearts of those who witness them. They are compelled to recognise and proclaim that those works are of God. And thus, by the weak and simple things of this earth, God accomplishes His mighty work of administering relief and of saving souls. Therefore, our acts of kindness and mercy ignite the fire of God's spirit within us and the light within us will be made manifest to others despite our sins and weaknesses. The key, again, is in our desires. If we desire righteousness, there is no need to postpone our service to God. He will accept us right now because of our sincere desire.
Think of the great good you could do today if you had a mind to! The possibilities are endless. May our light shine as we humbly accept the Lord's invitation to follow him in loving and serving those around us.
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