过去几天的学习，让我们认识到八福为我们的健康和丰盛的生活，提供了正确的精神和灵性的态度，相信我们已准备好开始思想意义深刻的第一句话：「虚心的人有福了！因为天国是他们的。」（太五3）。

有些译本翻译为：「灵里贫穷的人是快乐的……」；另一个译本什至说：「恭喜那些灵里贫穷的人……」重要的是，要记得「快乐」（希腊语是makarios）这个词的含义远比我们平时想到的丰富得多。牠所表示的是深刻、持久的快乐，不是短暂的情绪提升。

因此，耶稣在登山宝训开始时，就指向个人生命中一件最重要的事情上──个别的和独自的快乐。我们所有人都想快乐，这没有不对。渴望持久的快乐是根深蒂固的本能，是由创造主自己放在我们的里面。神创造日落、绘画玫瑰、将笑容放在婴孩面上、把玩乐的恩典赐给小猫、将欢笑放在我们的灵魂里，而当我们不快乐的时候，他肯定也不会快乐。

虽然快乐是神所赐的一种本能，但我们也必须明白，只有神才能够令我们快乐。如果没有神和他那透过十字架与复活表达出来的救赎之爱，我们便会是「最可怜」（林前十五19）的。正如我曾听过一个弟兄说：「现在我认识基督了，我在忧愁时也比以前高兴的时候更快乐。」

Now that we have spent a few days meditating on the fact that provide us with the right mental and spiritual attitudes for healthy and abundant living, we are ready to begin focusing on the first of these profound statements: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:3).

Some translations read, "Happy are the poor in spirit...", and one goes so far as to say, "Congratulations to the poor in spirit...It is important to keep in mind that the word "happy" (Greek makarios) carries a far richer tone than we commonly attach to the word. It suggests a deep, abiding happiness, not just a temporary emotional lift.

In the very first words of the Sermon on the Mount, therefore, Jesus puts His finger on one of life's most vital issues - individual and personal happiness. We all want to be happy - and rightly so. The longing for lasting happiness is a deep-rooted instinct that has been built into us by the Creator Himself. The God who made the sunset, painted the rose, put the smile on a baby's face, gave the gift of playfulness to a kitten and put laughter in our souls is surely not happy when we are unhappy.

Although it is a God-given instinct to be happy, we must also see that it is only God who can make us happy. Apart from Him and His redemptive love as expressed through the cross and the resurrection, we would be "most miserable" (1 Cor. 15:19, AV). As someone once confessed: "Now that I know Christ, I'm happier when I'm sad than before when I was glad."