I want to be blessed.

[CAUTION:  Proceed at your own risk.  This is radical truth.  This is what it means to follow Christ.  These words will chase all that is not of God out of you with its tail between its legs.]

Luke 6:20-26

Looking at his disciples, he said:

[We are Your disciples Lord.]

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

[What more could we ever gain?]

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.

[Let our spirits hunger all the more as we eat and drink of you.  Let us always ask for more, ever content, yet always expectant.]

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

[Even as we cry out to You, let our spirits rejoice in suffering.  Let us not forget that to die is gain but to live on is Christ.]

Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

[Break off the chains of the fear of man.  Let us value Your praise high above any earthly praise.  Let us pursue what is honourable to You, counting as nothing what is honourable in the eyes of men.]

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

[Let us stand like those great men of old who hearkened to Your voice above all else.  Sharpen our ears to hear you through the nigh impenetrable din here below.]

But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

[Jesus, let us not be satisfied with all that this earth can offer.  Do not let the abundance of this world, it's many comforts and conveniences, lull us to sleep.  Let us rest in your provision alone, trusting not in the systems of this world, but in your faithfulness and grace to get us where we need to be.]

Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.

[Let us not be so consumed with the pursuit of our own needs that we disregard the needs of others.  Make us aware of the true cost of comfort.]

Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

[Open our eyes to see the reality of this world - whose sweat and blood fuel its perpetual motion.  Let us never laugh in the face of suffering.  Let our hearts be broken along with those of the widow, the orphan, the sick, and the imprisoned.  O, let us never rejoice at our own success if it is at the expense of others.]

Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

[Make us constant, never two-faced, like crowd-pleasing false prophets who say one thing to a man and another thing to his neighbour.  Make us bold to speak your truth, to walk in your footsteps, to challenge the status quo.  Do not abandon us to the fate of those who fool themselves into believing they speak for you when they wouldn't know you if you were standing right in front of them.  Touch our lips with burning embers.  Make our hearts true.]

[I want to be counted among the blessed.  Do you?  Jesus, help us live this. Make us beautiful like You.]