Key Verse: But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy
great peace.
Psalm 37:11
Meekness, along with the word "submit,” are probably
two of the most misunderstood words in our society today. The word meek, often conjures up a mousy
figure who is weak and quiet. A door mat
may come to mind when we use this word. We
think of a meek person who goes with the flow and doesn't want to cause any
trouble. How a person like this could
inherit the earth would be a real mystery indeed. In fact, would we even want a person like
that to inherit the earth? What would a
person like that do with the earth once he or she got it?
Perhaps, if we change our description of "meek,” we
will understand better what Jesus is talking about here. The best definition of meekness that I've
ever heard, and perhaps it is the easiest one for me to understand, is,
"power under control.”
Think of a horse. A
horse is powerful. In fact, a raging
stallion is a force to be reckoned with and it is best not to get in his
way when he is angered. Yet, we have
used horses for centuries for transportation, work and pleasure. Horses can be tamed and the relationship
between horses and humans has been a successful one throughout the ages. What is the secret to this success? Humans respect the power of the horse and
horses respect the wisdom of the humans.
Yes, there are some cruel masters, but a good horse person knows that
respect works much better in training and understanding a horse, than fear and
intimidation. A good horse is meek, allowing all that power in his muscles to be guided by submitting to the human commands. The horse serves as a
visual picture of "power under control.”
The Psalmist describes what this can look like in man when
he says, "Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret. It leads only to evil.” (Psalm 37:8) When we can submit to the Lord's
control, as the horse submits to the rider, trusting that the rider sees what
the horse doesn't and knows a better plan than the horse could even imagine on
his own, when we can trust the Lord like that, then, we become worthy of the
inheritance of His earth. We are
listening to His instructions.
Perhaps our best example of meekness or “power under control”
is Christ on the cross. Is there any
better example of submission and meekness than that? The creator hanging on His creation,
crucified by His created, trusting the Father for the plan of redemption that
none of creation could have even imagined was possible and may not have wanted
even though the cost would be little to them.
With this as our example, let us remember that we too have been
crucified with Him. "I have been
crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) We can submit to God's
plans, trusting Him for the outcome. Then
we are ready to inherit eternal life and the new heaven and earth to come.
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