Blessed are the Meek

Mom Huizinga asked me a good question the other night and I've thought about it a few times since then. She asked me, "What is your definition of 'the meek' in regard to the Matthew 5:5 work in one of Jesus' most famous sermons--"Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth."

I thought about it and I'm still comfortable with my answer. The meek are those who submit to discipline who are self-controlled and essentially, those who are are prepared to follow. None of these definitions come from weakness.  There might be more words out there to build the meaning of meek, but I'm comfortable with it's current status.

Some examples. The greatest olympic swimmer to ever grace the games is undoubtedly the current olympian Michael Phelps. He's big. He's strong. He's well established and he regards his talent well. His strength? His strength comes from his submission to his discipline, the self-control needed to build his talent and his willingness to follow his coach into the places his coach needed him to be. But lastly, he desires to lift not only himself, but his team. He watches other swimmers and cheers them on. He advises, he encourages and he cheers them with great enthusiasm. He is meek. We have other examples from the bible. Moses was a great leader. He stood up to the most powerful leader in the world, Pharaoh Ramses. He led God’s people through the wilderness to the border of the promised land. He questioned God from time to time, but followed the meekness path--Numbers 12:3 - “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” Jesus himself was meek, submitted to the discipline of his task, followed his Father's will, and gave of himself to others and yet he was the most feared, most respected and probably most "powerful" teacher in that time (of course we know he's God, but I'm merely taking an empirical view). Added to that, Jesus could stand up to the winds and the waves. He also chased the moneychangers out of the temple twice with a whip made out of chords--Matthew 11:29 - “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Meekness comes from power, from engaging the fruits of the spirit and from being confident in discipline...and they are blessed. What do you think?