Ambition

Matthew 5:3

Ambition. Christian ambition. This is what I want--a passionate, no-matter-what-the-cost-I-must-have-this ambition. What for? To live here: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3, NIV). Or as the New Living Translation puts it, "God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is their" (Matthew 5:3). I also like the way the Message has it: "You're blessed when you are at the end of your rope. With less of you there's more of God and his rule" (Matthew 5:3).

Need. This isn't what most of us want. We don't want to need anything. No, we want to be strong, independent, capable--and rightly so. But like money our strengths might keep us from the kingdom. "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" (Luke 18:24).

Our own strength keeps us from praying. Our own strength keeps us from asking God for help. Our own strength keeps us from seeing how puny our human effort is. Our own strength keeps us away from God and out of his kingdom.

Father, make me need you. Make me more and more capable each day of asking for your help, of relying on your strength, of knowing how much greater you are than me. May my riches never stop me from passionately pursuing the poverty that you bless--a poverty that looks only to you!