Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

What is meant by poor in spirit?  Well, being poor I think many of us know what that means.  But poor in spirit is something that, while related to being materially poor, is not quite the same thing.  I think what is meant here can be found in another part of the gospels. 

Jesus is approached by the young man who asks what he must do to attain eternal life.  Jesus responds that he should follow the Ten Commandments.  But the man says he does do this.  Jesus responds again stating that he should give up all he has and follow Him.  The man went away sad because he had many possessions.

The parallel here is that to attain the kingdom of heaven we cannot be burdened down by possessions in this life.  We need to detach ourselves from these things and become poor in spirit.  We can have things, own things, but we should not be so attached to them like the young man in the gospel.  An example of this poverty of spirit is found in Job, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away - Blessed be the Lord."

It is a hard teaching in our materialistic age when we are urged by the mentality of whoever dies with the most toys wins.  And the cliche that "you can't take it with you" while apt in the physical sense does not apparently hold true in the spiritual sense.  Any of the "baggage" that you are attached to in this life will go with you and it will weigh you down. So we are called to spiritual poverty.  Bind nothing to your spirit except that which will get you to the kingdom.