7 Days to Christmas: "Blessed are those who mourn"

Read: Matthew 5:4

"Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted."

Observe:

There are two ways to explain "mourn" which I have found online. Some commentary said that "mourn" refers to grieve over our origin sins, while others said it is also refers to personal grieve (eg. passing of a loved one). Not satisfied by both explanation, I have decided to consult the Strong's Concordance (know more about Strong's) which defines the word "mourn" to "penthountes" or "πενθοῦντες" (Strong NT 3996) in greek which is the closest to the original translation. The word "mourn" used in Matthew 5:4 has a intransitive connotation. Well, my english is bad.. so I did a search on the meaning of "intransitive" and Webster has a good explanation on "intransitive". Basically, an intransitive verb is not used with a direct object, a transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object. Therefore, the action "mourn" in Matthew 5:4 is not really just referring to grieving over original sins or personal sins, it could be refer to life issues like death/loss/sadness, since it is not "used with a direct object" it is kind of an open ended word.

We shall put away the hardcore lexicon above and focus more on soft approach of this verse. As I begin to reflect over this verse, few dearest pop up in my thoughts for year 2017. A loss of a faithful servant in Christ and good old friend's dearest grandma. God knows that we will have suffering whether for spreading His words or loss of a loved one. As the bible mention, "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." - Psalm 56:8. Jesus understands our sorrow as He is fully human and fully God. How much does He cares for you? "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." - Luke 12:7.

Grieving is good. Human are expressive creature we are made to show emotions, laughter, anger, sadness etc. However, there are quick fix to mourning. When a person is sad, they filled it with distractions like eating, drinking, making themselves busy. But these are temporary, they end up depressed again in the silent of the night. Distraction works temporary. What we really need is to open our hearts to Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Cast all our cares unto Him for He did said "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28. There is nothing that Jesus can't bear for you in your life. Let His Holy spirit fill in your heart with warmth and peace!

Do not reject His comforting spirit. Ever heard that "misery likes company"? I think it can be so true as a person keep dwelling in sorrow and anger on events that is long past. Sometimes it become so familiar that you naturally accept your fate, feeding yourself with negative words like he/she/God is to be blamed and feeling vicitmised and finally harden your hearts to any comforting words that may come by. For the bible admonish us to not grieve like there is no hope, "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him." - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14. As previous paragraphs stated, Jesus does cares for you. Also, know that you are the Child of God, nothing in this world is more precious then being God's precious litte tots ;)

Apply & Do:

There are events in my life that is not smooth sailing, I believe everyone would have the ups and downs. In up times, praise God! In down times, praise God for Matthew 5:4! See, M54 easy to remember right?

Prayer:

In name of Jesus Christ, I pray for all readers of this blog will be blessed by His words. Whatever heartache, suffering you maybe going throught, I pray that you would place your cares at His throne. Always remember we are his Child, He will never forsake us. He collect our tears, He count our hairs, His eye is on the sparrows, He will give you rest when you are burdened and weary, and there will be always Hope in Him! Amen.

Image source: Pixnio

#mourn #sorrow #blessed #comforted