Blessed because...

"...and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:3

Blessed because...
By Rev. William Dohle

How often have you heard the word "blessed" used by others?

At dinner during thanksgiving, "Lord, we are so blessed..."

At a son or daughter's graduation or wedding: "Our family has just been so blessed!"

In conversation with others at church: "I just can't complain. We've just been so blessed!"

We usually think of blessings in terms of material things. To be blessed is to want for nothing, to have a nice home and a good car and a little spending money to travel for vacation. To be blessed is to need for nothing and be able to want for anything. "Blessed" is a material condition. A state of life being filled with good things. People we love. Family we cherish. It is about what we have...

But what if it has nothing to do with what we have... but what we give? What if blessing is about our positive influence in others' life instead of being graced with material things? What if blessings can only be seen from the outside, by others who say "They are such a blessing!" instead of inside?

I think that is what God is getting at here when God says: "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."

Abram is blessed, not because he has so much stuff! Not because he has the biggest boat, the coolest toys, the nicest computer, the largest home, or the perfect family. Not at all! In fact, though Abram himself will enjoy physical comforts, Abram's descendants who inherit this promise are going to find themselves poor slaves in a foreign land soon. No, God is speaking not about material comforts but about the positive influence his people will have on the world!

Abram's literal descendants will go on to...
...Lead their people out of Israel.
...Reclaim the land promised by God.
...Hear the Torah, God's way, and follow it.

One day they will...
...Write wisdom to be read around the world.
...Proclaim God's Word to distant lands.
...And give birth to the Messiah, the Son of God.

God has a lot of blessing to bestow. And he intends to use Abram for that purpose.

And we too, children of Abraham through faith, have a job to do here as well. For here, right now, God is wanting to bless the world through us. We are blessed...to be a blessing. And it has to do with more than physical things...

True... We are blessed with resources...ONLY so we can bless others with the same.

But we have also been blessed with other things...

We are blessed with forgiveness...
...so we can forgive.
We have been blessed with peace...
...so we can share that peace with others.
We have been blessed with joy...
...so we can share that joy with others.

The next time you catch yourself thinking you're blessed simply looking at the material, stop and peer around you. The world is waiting at your doorstep. Who could call you a blessing in their lives today?

God of Abraham, bless us as you blessed him. As you promised him and his family blessings, so too bless us that we might become the same to others. Amen.