I’m trying something new. I know it’s hard to get a productive Bible time in each day, so maybe I’ll share some of my good days with you that you can get a dose of Bible insights in a few minutes!
I realized the whole sermon on the mount is connected to impress one major idea on us! How to live by a totally different kingdom while we are in the kingdom of earth.
(5:3-10) Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and all those other reversals show us an unexpected value system is building up rewards behind the scenes.
(5:11-12) Then he says great is your reward in heaven when people dis you because of me. So the king of the next world gives you props when you hail him though it’s not cool. Rewards building again.
(5:13-16) Then salt and light. We bring this new flavor of how to do things to this you-get-what-you-deserve, business-like world. And we show it, like putting a lamp on a stand.
(5:17-20) Jesus fulfills the law, which we’re being judged on. We must be more righteous than the pharisees whom, we are about to read, were only righteous in the visible kingdom, not the unseen kingdom he’s spattin about.
(5:21-37) Murder, Adultery, Divorce, breaking oaths… all these things come down to that unseen kingdom. What you’re doing in your heart is what’s important, not outward stuffs.
(5:38) Eye for an eye, love for enemies… This is showing the same unexpected nature of the invisible kingdom as in the beatitudes (vs. 3-10). We are rewarded there for the reward we do not get here.
(6:1-18) Giving to the needy: do it in secret so as not for an earthly reward.
Prayer: do it in your closet so you don’t get an earthly reward for it. Fasting: don’t show you’re all sad and parched and stuff. otherwise, yeah, earthly praise.
(6:19-24) This is a conclusion to all stated above: all these things are how you build up treasures in heaven! But it will also show if you are holding onto earth, cuz the two motives will fight.
(6:25-34) So how should this affect your life now? Look! You don’t need to worry about all that stuff that will bring you down! God’s got ya.
(all of 7) Don’t judge others on their invisible kingdom, just work on you. Ask God because He loves to provide. Now just live the invisible out in the visible life! It’s the smart way.
There’s my big realization on the sermon on the mount! It’s all about operating in the rewards system of the invisible world! Hope this helps!
Raw Spoon, 10-9-17
