Becoming Fully Human

Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount 

June 20, 2024

Becoming Fully Human

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise,

like a person who builds a house on solid rock.”

Matthew 7:24 

Jesus’ last warning (Matthew 7:24-29) is an invitation to fulfill his charge made earlier in the sermon: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33). When we seek to embody within our lives the teaching of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount, we become fully human, just as our divine master was fully human. Life lived without adhering to his principles is a sub-human life.

A life lived with a focus on greed, or the accumulation of power, or living only for pleasure will all collapse in time. In contrast, those who make seeking the life in Christ their way of life will experience the presence of Christ in their life today and will inherit the promise of eternal life, which is life in Christ uninterrupted by death.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is saying that ultimately, the only important thing in life is how we perceive God. If we perceive God as generous, gracious, loving, and faithful, we will then embrace the Gospel as truly Good News and joyfully enter the Kingdom of God. In our culture, so many people believe human life is nothing more than billions of years of evolution and survival of the fittest. Such a worldview hardly motivates people to get out of their comfort zone and live self-sacrificial lives.

My Takeaway: Over and against this reality of present-day life, Jesus is saying that if I choose to live under the reign of my generous, gracious, loving and faithful God, my mission is to live my life as salt and light for those for whom the love of God is still a stranger.

Sē’lah

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.