Blessed to Be a Blessing

One of my heartfelt desires is that people would someday speak of
me as blessed by God and, as a fruit of that, a blessing to others. This
would mean that God the Father would have so blessed me in Christ
Jesus, the Son, that the Spirit of God would have flowed through me
blessing others. That I would be blessed by God to be a blessing is
what I yearn for.

The pattern of God blessing women and men in order to bless others
runs through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. I first encounter
this in Scripture when God promised to bless Abram and his des-
cendants so that all the families of the world would be blessed (Gen.
12:2). God has blessed all the nations through Jesus, Abraham's prom-
ised descendant. By trusting in Christ Jesus we have been made sons
and daughters of Abraham (Gal. 3:7) and in Him we have received ev-
ery spiritual blessing in heaven and on earth (Eph. 1). Christ has sent
God's people who have been blessed in Him into the world to bless
others in the Name of the Triune God (Matt. 28:18-20).

I believe that Gen. 12:1-3 is a foundation for Christian mission. The
Church has been blessed in Jesus Christ to be a blessing to the na-
tions of the world. I also yearn to make the pattern of being blessed
by God to be a blessing a part of my daily life wherever I am. But I
am saddened by the reality that I so quickly forget God's blessings
in Jesus Christ. And so daily I feed on the Scriptures and pray that
the Father may grant me the Spirit so that I may know God more
deeply (Eph. 1: 17ff). I also pray that I would seek every opportunity
to do good to someone. That may mean spending time to listen to a
person or helping someone to do something. It may mean praying with
another in need or handing a person a cup of cold water or a mug of
hot coffee. It could be helping someone move to another house or shar-
ing with another about entrusting his or her life to Jesus Christ. But
the important thing is to seek every opportunity to do good to someone.

So I encourage you all who have been blessed in Christ Jesus to be a
blessing to others. Blessings to you and yours.