Until He Gave

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
​​For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  -- Matthew 5:3

Books and sermons have been written about the Beatitudes, so condensing each one down to a paragraph may not satisfy your longing to know. Speaking of longing, the first Beatitude begins with a poorness, something of which we do not have enough. Those poor in spirit want or need more of it. But what is it? The Greek word is pneuma and has several similar meanings. One is the Holy Spirit, and given that Jesus breathed on His disciples and gave to them the Holy Spirit to dwell in each of them, that would be one lack of Spirit (or Holy Spirit). As the people were at this sermon listening, thinking, and deciding whether to believe our Lord or not, the other definitions do not seem to fit. So, the poor in spirit are those who seek to fill what has been said to be a God-shaped hole in each of us. We do not have to become poor in spirit, but were born that way. Until He gave to us His Spirit, we had no way to obtain what we needed.

But wait. If the poor in spirit are happy in their blessing, and they have the kingdom of heaven already, why should there be a change?

What's this? A cliffhanger? Yes, more asking, seeking, and knocking seems needed for this answer!
Have faith in Jesus!

Bucky