If you have heard of the Sermon on the Mount you know it is that portion of scripture where Jesus gives nine pronouncements which all start “Blessed are…” (See Matthew 5) The first one says; “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What exactly is being poor in spirit?

I once worked with a man who was the very opposite. Autocratic, opinionated, a know-it-all, superior and arrogant; he swaggered around the company sure that he should be running it instead of the executives who did. You could not tell him he was wrong because he didn’t think enough of you to waste his time listening.

On the other hand, a person who is poor in spirit recognizes their own spiritual poverty. That person looks into their heart and then up at Almighty God and says; “Oh my – I’m in big trouble here.” Admitting their ragged condition, all they can do is call out for God’s grace.

What do they get for recognizing the truth about their predicament? Suddenly rags are turned to riches and they are possessors of the kingdom of heaven. The logic of the spiritual realm is reversed from our worldly thinking. Casting aside self-dependence provokes God to pour his sufficiency into us and we become wealthy in his kingdom.

You don’t just decide one day; “Yeah, that sounds good, I think I’ll be poor in spirit.” Are you willing to be honest with yourself? Are you willing to stop “opinionating” and start listening? Are you willing to examine your deepest motives and lay it all bare before God? If the answer is yes, you have quite an inheritance to possess. You can be God’s next “rags to riches” story!