Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Matthew 5:4.

Jesus was a man of sorrows, but that does not mean that He had no joy.  Here in this quotation from the Beatitudes, we see that God will bless the man who mourns.  What is it that we are to mourn over?  And what will be the blessing?  Jesus experienced what the Father would offer, and we are to experience it as well.

We have experienced the mourning over the death of loved ones, and that is part of what is involved here.  But we also are to mourn over our sin and the condition of a world that largely rejects Christ.  Our new creation in Christ mourns over all who would reject the Savior. 

We will be comforted in our mourning.  How?  Certainly we will be blessed to know that the Father and the Son also realize the condition of the world, and that they are working to bring all into the kingdom that would yield to Jesus.  We are blessed to be a part of this venture into the fallen world and to be agents of redemption and salvation.  The Holy Spirit will give us the words and the actions to be accomplished.  We are blessed by His presence.  In a very real way we become more like Jesus through this mourning.

All of our actions flow from the “poor in spirit” character cited in Matthew 5:3.

Thank You Father for allowing us to partake of Christ in our mourning and suffering for His sake.  We are sustained by Your Spirit as we do this, and all praise goes to You and Your Son.  Amen.

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