Are you feeling blessed today?
In British Sign Language the name ‘Jesus’ is represented by the right hand pointing to the left, followed by the left hand pointing to the right. I would guess that the thinking behind this is to visualise the wounds Christ suffered in his hands when he was crucified and which he showed to Thomas as proof that he was really raised from the dead.
But Jesus’ hands say much more about him. They touched lepers and outcasts, they grabbed a sinking Peter from certain drowning, they were laid on the blind and crippled bringing instant healing, they lifted a lifeless 12-year-old girl from her deathbed, they broke and multiplied bread and fish, satisfying a hungry crowd. Jesus’ hands were so often open to bless.
Some people think, when they see the scale of misery in the world, that God is reluctant to bless. But the Bible shows the complete opposite. In a world ruined by human sin, our God wants to break in and bless. As Psalm 145.16 says, “You open your hand and you satisfy every living thing with favour.”
From Genesis to Revelation, God delights to bestow his blessing.
The very first words spoken over Adam and Eve after God gives them life and breath are words of blessing. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number’.”
When God called Abraham he said, “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.”
When God instituted the priesthood, he said to Aaron, “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 towards you and give you peace.’ So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
The first Psalm begins with blessing. “Blessed is the one… whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on it day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.”
The first recorded public teaching we have of Jesus’ ministry is the sermon on the mount - and the very first word on his lips is the word “Blessed...”
There is in fact a golden thread of blessing throughout the Bible, which continues until the very last chapter of the last book which says, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city [of God].”
But there is a vital key to receiving God’s blessing that is not always understood or appreciated. We may say, “Well, I don’t feel blessed at all.” Could it be that we have missed something?
Terry Virgo tells of a time when he was guest speaker in a church in the USA. It was a great meeting and the congregation seemed very appreciative. After Terry preached, the service host asked the congregation, “How many of you have been blessed this morning?” Hundreds raised their hands or shouted enthusiastically that they had been. But he then shocked the congregation by telling them they were wrong. Everyone was taken aback - including Terry Virgo who had just preached a blinder! But the host pointed out that Jesus said, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” Our thinking is skewed if we think we have been blessed merely by hearing.
According to The Cinnamon Trust in 2019, local churches in the UK delivered 220,000 social action projects (such as food banks, debt counselling, hospital visiting etc.) serving 48 million people. In as much as they did this as an expression of faith and love, not out of pride and self-righteousness, they can surely expect blessing to follow.
“Therefore”, said Jesus, “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matthew 7.24-25).
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