We hear the term "blessing" frequently, and most of us can get excited when we know we are about to receive a big blessing. Who doesn't want to be blessed?
In fact this great desire for blessing has been one of reason we see many teachers rise up and teach a gospel that emphasizes "prosperity" as core part of its message. Is commercial materialism a fundamental teaching of the gospel or is there something deeper to the meaning "blessed"
Certainly we all desire comfort and posessions to some extent but unfortunately sometimes to our detriment. There exists a deeper gospel than the surface message of financial success or satisfaction in our personal relationships, or social status.
I invite you to search the Scripture for the word blessing and see how many verses come up and see what they say. I certainly know it would be exhaustive but a healthy refresher to help us understand that in most every instance God talks about blessing there is a reason and purpose surrounding it. Qualifiers like "so that My Name may be known", "that I may be exalted" and the list goes on.
http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=bless&qs_version=NIV
The word blessing in the way it is used in the Old Testament in reference to the promises to Abraham and his ancestors, and the Jewish nation is an extremely potent expression. It is not that God is going to grant wishes or excessively give out abundance for lavish carnality but it is a word that refers to transformation. In Genesis 12:2 we catch a glimpse of this with the phrase "and you will be a blessing". It is a becoming word of status, it is a transformation word that changes the names of its recipients. Abram (exalted father) becomes Abraham (father of the multitude) and Jacob (heel grabber) becomes Israel (one governed by God) The idea of blessedness is founded in God's promise to be with His people. Wherever the LORD is abundance will bountifully flow, people will flourish and thrive just as the tree grows that is planted by the stream.
Jeremiah 17:7,8
The problem is that when we stop wanting to become the blessing of God and use merely abundace for ourselves and for our own benefit and own desires, we fall into trouble.
We confuse the concept of blessing with worldly status, we forget that the greatest blessing we have is to be declared a child of God, a part of His eternal kingdom and coheirs to the universe with Christ Jesus. Jesus came to give life to us and that in abundance, He did not come in order to increase our income, but He will increase us in accordance to His divine plan for our lives which have heavenly potential, incomparable to the riches of the world that fade.
So dig deep into the good news of Christ, He came to transform us into the blessing for the entire world. That we can now share in the promises of God by faith, as Abraham, and the people of God. A people whole and holy, not lacking but filled with the Divine spirit、ready and able to do the works of the heavenly Father.
How can we be satisfied with gold and silver, with mansions and luxuries and not understand that God is the greatest prize and that the heart of gospel is that God can transform us into His very own? He is the author, He is the finisher, we must strive to make known the glory of God not by toting our wealth and affluence but by demonstrating the very transforming, life giving power of God in our lives.
All wealth and power and authority is His and He will dispense according to our every need, SO that we may be a light among the nations. Isaiah 49:6
Be blessed! Be transformed! No longer do we fear death but cherish life and that is the life He has promised. Amen.
