The Mournful

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The Mournful

Michael Pickford

“Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4). What does Jesus mean by those who mourn? He was not encouraging people to be continuous crybabies. Nor was He advocating pessimism. He wasn’t recommending a gloom and doom attitude, or a mad and sad disposition. There are plenty of people in the world who are always down, depressed and despaired without the children of God being added to the lot. Being a child of God includes rejoicing always in the Lord (Phil. 4:4). There are some people who look as if they have been sentenced to christianity! We need to be a joyous people! Jesus was also not speaking here of the type of mourning that is done over the loss of an investment, a home, money, a job, health, or even the loss of a loved one. These are worthy things to mourn over, but this isn’t the type of mourning Jesus had in mind. Jesus is speaking here about mourning over sins. Those who will receive the blessing; those who will receive the comfort, are those who have the emotional capacity and the mental capability to mourn over sins. Many Don’t! We should mourn, in the first place, over our own sins. Some who mock sin while others become so desensitized that they no longer have the ability to feel remorse over their transgressions. We will never be able to take the necessary steps toward forgiveness until we have the ability to feel godly sorrow over the wrongs we commit. Paul spoke of two kinds of sorrow: Godly sorrow, and worldly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:8-11). Worldly sorrow comes from having to pay the penalty for a wrong done. For example, a theif may sit in prison feeling sorry for himself because he got caught. This is worldly sorrow; it only focuses on selfish affliction. On the other hand, the theif who has godly sorrow feels mournful over the fact that he has sinned against God. This is the kind of mourning Jesus is talking about. This beatitude follows up perfectly with the previous one. When we feel our own spiritual bankruptcy, we will feel godly sorrow over our sins, which will lead to the type of mourning Jesus is speaking of here. This will in turn lead us to repentance and forgiveness. We also mourn over the sins of others. When we see another sin, we mourn because we know it hurts God and causes this indivudual to lose his soul. This will prod our consciences to try to teach this individual to obey the gospel. Consider that heart wrenching account of Jesus mourning over sinful Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37-39). He longed to gather them together to Himself as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but they refused to renounce their sin and accept Him. Find the greatest comfort! Find the comfort of having your conscience clear; the comfort of living with a hope of eternal bliss! Mourn over sins! Blessed are those who mourn!



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