The "Be-Attitudes" Part 2

Mourn

As we look through the “blesseds,” we’re going to see a progression. Last time we saw that we first had to acknowledge that in spirit we are paupers before we would ever begin to look to God to pour out His riches of grace and mercy upon us.

When we do recognize our spiritual poverty, we see that we are poor because our sins have separated us from God. We have sinned against our Creator and have caused pain to come to Him and to those whom we love. We see a deep, dark chasm of sin all around us and on the other side is Jesus, nailed to a cross with those very sins. Every stabbing pain he feels is the sting of our own depraved acts. Lies we told, hatred we held toward another, bitterness we’ve harbored in our hearts, and other thoughts and words and deeds that we dare not speak – those are the trespasses which held Him there. And we fall down at His feet in utter grief. Our souls come undone before Him because we know that without Him we are destined to exist in the lost and lonely place across the chasm.

The Lord has mourned our sins since the cross. No, since the thought of the cross, which was forever ago. And He has waited through all time until that longed-for, precious moment when our spiritual eyes begin to come into focus, and we, too, begin to mourn over the sins we have committed and the pain we have caused.

“Blessed are they that mourn! For they shall be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4

This word for comforted in the Greek means, “to call near, that is, invite, invoke, beseech, call for.


When we are in this state of grief, the Lord promises to call out to us. He invites us to come to Him, across the dark chasm to join Him at the foot of the cross where you will grieve together. It is a place of death to be sure, but only in death can new life come.

* * *

Do we still mourn when we have sinned? Even once we have been saved and we know our sins have been forgiven, we can never forget that we are still imperfect creatures who sin, and that sin should still bring us to our knees in grief. And even moreso, knowing full well the high price that was paid for our sins on Calvary. And God still calls out to us to draw near to Him and to confess our sins to Him.

How many times have I fallen right back into that pit of despair, having sinned against my Lord? But time after time He calls out to me and I raise my hand up to Him and let Him draw me back out again.

The mistake that so many Christians make is failing to let God draw them back up and out of their pit of sin. We may weep over our sin, we may grieve over it, but how long do we choose to stay in the pit rather than leave the sin behind? How much time have we wasted in the pit when we could be living our lives in the light, free to run with joy and victory?

When God calls out to us, I hope we answer quickly and decisively. I hope we are anxious to leave the pit behind and walk and talk with Jesus again.

“Jehovah is near to the broken-hearted; and saves those who are of a contrite spirit.”
Psalm 34:18