Blessing. To be blessed by God.
“The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!” (John 12:12-13)
It takes courage to discover the path of blessing.
Blessing is an interesting, hard to define word. In its simplicity, it is a humble grateful recognition of someone or something.
Blessing inspires gratitude as we recognize the activity of God in us and around us. Blessing provides an assurance of God’s providential care and his abiding presence, in fulfillment of his greater eternal purposes.
The first 3 verses of Genesis 12 invite us to walk the path of blessing:
“ The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country,
your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
It should not be surprising then, that when God speaks to Abram, this idea of blessing, is mentioned several times. These verses, build off of the promise first made to Adam and Eve, in their creation, in their restoration and the promise of redemption. God values all created life, that he affirms his presence and pleasure in the goodness of it all. We then read “God blessed them and said to them. Be fruitful and increase in number…”
Blessing, therefore, forms the foundation from which the rest of biblical account comes to fulfillment, through the life of Jesus Christ and our hope for the eternal future.
Understanding this, helps strengthen our capacity to walk the path of blessing. In a world that continually tempts us with subjective short term pleasures, walking the path of blessing requires courage.
Notice in verse 1, the importance of listening to God: “the Lord said to Abram”. We can easily move past those words like it’s just random dialogue in a novel. But we shouldn’t. This is God who is speaking, therefore we should pay attention. In fact, if you go right back to the beginning of the book, in chapter 1, when we first read of God speaking, we are reminded that when God speaks, he speaks life.
So when God comes to Abram and speaks, Abram does pay attention, even though God is asking him to leave what he has known, even people he is used to and surroundings that have become normal. None of that is easy, it requires courage to pursue the path of blessing.
Notice secondly: God wants to bless us. This is a reassurance of the original design. God wants to bless Abram and he wants to bless us. His desire, through Abram, would be that many peoples would be the legacy of Abram’s faithfulness to going down this road of blessing. The path of blessing extended beyond those Abram could see that day.
How would your day change if you woke up reminding yourself that God wants to bless you?
“God wants to bless me.” Say that out loud: “God wants to bless me.”
Next on the path of blessing, is recognizing that God wants you to be a blessing to others. The way in which you conduct yourself, helps others to know whether they are valued by God. And if, as we’ve already been reminded that God blessed the creation of human life, anything less in our treatment of others, is not acceptable.
In a very practical sense, it’s one of the reasons why there is blessing, or the assurance of God’s presence and provision, as we find regular rhythms of rest from our work. Through rest, our work is blessed. (Exodus 20:8-11)
Blessing, is also the way in which the greatest sermon ever told began. (Matthew 5)
Jesus opened his message, to a large and diverse group of people with words of blessing:
Beginning with The promise of blessing for the wearied spirit, and including the promise of being seen by God, the reminder of justice and mercy and being protected by God. Jesus spoke words of blessing that addressed the deep inner needs and eternal hopes of people.
Beyond his words, blessing is the invitation of Jesus, to continue to walk with him in His work, in his direction and at his pace. (Matthew 11:28-30)
You have tasted that blessing in the past.
And many of us, are yearning for it again.
The presence of the power of the Spirit of God through our growing obedience to His word puts us on the path of blessing and should positively impact others.
In fact, as we come to these days of Passover and Resurrection, blessing is the promise, given to Thomas for you and I by Jesus, and for those who would come to place their identity in Christ. Our Lord would say: “…blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:28-29)
Which is amazing, because when you start to understand this, then God will use other people to bless you, reminding you of the riches of His glory; and you will be more compelled to bless others in the same manner, strengthening the blessed assurance that is ours.
Do you want to be blessed by others?
Who doesn’t?
Notice, fourthly, that God’s got you. It’s possible, that even in our attempts to be a positive, godly influence on others, it will not be received as such. In fact, there are those who may even been offended and react in an opposing manner…curse…is how God describes it to Abram. In those times, essentially, the reminder is, “I’ve got you”; “you stay on the path of blessing”. (Psalm 22:24-28)
God’s promise is that he will weigh the motivation of those who we think might be opposing us; and he will deal with them according to His justice and righteousness. Those are words that ring true throughout the biblical record.
We exist to bless – say that with me:
“We exist to bless”
We exist to bless to bring blessing and to impact others through blessing – helping them to recognize the presence of God and His purposes for their lives. To that end, the Lord gave Moses these instructions for Aaron and the priests who would follow, and I also pray them over you:
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
“‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
What is sometimes forgotten is God’s promise through this ministry…listen to what comes next.
“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
When we extend ourselves to bless others in the name of Jesus, we help them find their identity in the one who is the way, the truth and the life, through whom relationship with the Father is possible.
To be people of blessing allows us to share the goodness or grace of God, freely, and invites others to do the same.
May we be people who walk the path of blessing, extending the presence of Jesus through our lives and our ministries for the glory of God.
May we persevere in this until that day when we experience the greatest exchange of blessing:
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throneand before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
(Revelation 7:9-12)
I love what you did there... very tricky with the "hidden message" and how we are blessed when we believed without seeing.
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