How often the world hears the word “meekness” and associates it with “weakness.” It seems that the meek shall inherit the earth (Matt 5:5) is just another way of saying that it’s those who don’t do anything that will wind up the winners in the end. What the world, and many Christians, misses is verse 3: theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. And while I truly believe Jesus is speaking about His Millennial reign here on earth with His bride ruling the world with and for Him, the issue not really what or when the meek inherit, it’s all about how they inherit. Let’s go back and consider the meekest man in the Old Testament. .
Num 12:3 The man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.
The Hebrew word for meekness means “to endure with submission what might be avoided.” And it was Moses, the meekest man, who initially tried to avoid what God told Him to do. If we look back at his early years it is quite evident that he didn’t lead a very “meek” life. He was on track to sit on the throne of Egypt and he killed the Egyptian among other prideful acts. But that all changed in one brief encounter.
When Moses looked up from that field and saw the bright light burning in the hill he went up to see what caused it. It was then that God delivered a message to Moses without speaking a word; the same message He is delivering to every believer today.
As Moses stared at that burning bush he was amazed that that plain old bush was not being consumed by the fire. Think about that for a moment. What if that had happened to you or me, wouldn’t we be just as awestruck as he was? What was the silent message God was delivering that would follow Moses for that rest of his life as he struggled with the nation Israel?
As I thought about it, it seems like the Lord was saying to Moses… Any old bush will do! You don’t have to be special or specially gifted to accomplish the purposes of God in your life. As long as the fire that burned in that bush burns in you, you are, and forever will be, capable of fulfilling the calling God has placed on your life and everything you will encounter along the way. His fire, not the fire of carnality, not the natural fire but the fire of The Spirit, is all that we need.
An
d the key to keeping that fire burning in our heart is to follow the example set by Moses. When he was faced with all those challenges that came from the nation Israel, he didn’t turn away (although many times he wanted to), he endured with submission what might be avoided. He walked in meekness because He had learned the message of the burning bush… any old bush will do to accomplish the purposes of God as long as the fire that burns in that bush is not the fire of a self-centered life but the fire of God.
Yes, at the end of the day, that’s what we really are… just any old bush! But we need to be thankful that it’s by His grace that we are not consumed by the natural fire of this world that encourages anything and everything rather than meekness… the meekness of that simple old bush that burned brightly without being consumed.