Be a Blessing!

When God made His covenant with Abraham, He said that Abraham would be a blessing to ALL the families of the earth (Gen. 12:1-3). Then God reaffirms this to Isaac and says, "...and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. And I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands. and by your descendants ALL the nations of the earth shall be blessed."

The Hebrew text actually says "be a blessing" and not "and you shall be a blessing." It was a command that God gave Abraham and not a prediction. Of course, Abraham would be a blessing to the nations as he sought to fulfill the command God had given him.

Abraham and Isaac both understood "descendants" to be their physical seed. But we also know from Galatians 3:29 that this seed is expanded to a spiritual seed who are all those who have placed their faith in what Christ accomplished on the cross.

Now consider for a moment what the Great Commission says. Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of ALL the nations." Mark 16:15 "Go into ALL the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Luke 24:47 "...and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to ALL the nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

It follows that we, the spiritual seed of Abraham, are commanded to be a blessing to ALL nations. How are we to be a blessing? Through word and deed. It is the Great Commission coupled with the Great Commandment.

In Luke 9:2 we see that Jesus sent the twelve out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. What is the kingdom of God we are to proclaim. It is the acting rule and presence of God in His people (those who have trusted in His son's death for the forgiveness of their sins). This is the good news. We were once separated in our sins from the presence of God, but now we have been reconciled and not only have the privilege of being in His presence, but His presence is now in us.

It is His presence now in us that gives us the energy (if you will) to be a blessing to others. To heal them. To serve them. To speak life into them. To honor them. To respect them. To yield to them. To seek their benefit. To seek their gain. To bring wholeness to them.

In my own life I find myself getting frustrated with people very easily. You know those who get in my way. Those who thwart me from reaching my goals. Those who get in my space. Those who just don't get it. Those who don't live up to expectations. The temptation then becomes to deal with these people accordingly - and many times (unfortunately) I give into temptation.

God hit me square between the eyes today when I was reading in Luke 9:55-56, "But He turned and rebuked them, and said, 'You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." This statement from Jesus comes right after He entered a village of the Samaritans who refused to make a place for Jesus because he was heading to Jerusalem. (Jews and Samaritans had a long standing dislike for one another - birthed out of a racism type disdain.) This rejection by the Samaritans angered the disciples and like a good band of brothers they quickly asked the Lord if He wanted them to fire down on them and burn them all.

Oh, trust me there are times when I want to call fire down on people (all too often). But that does not come from the right spirit within me. You see the Spirit within me gives me the power not only to respond differently but to desire something different for my adversary all together. To be a blessing. To be able to pause and be driven to compassion for those who thwart my ways, or much worse the ways of God. When I am walking by the Spirit I am empowered to walk the Way of being a blessing to ALL people everywhere. This is God's grand Way of overcoming evil with good. It is the great Divine Conspiracy! And why? That God might be glorified through the redemption of hurting, broken, lost, sinful humanity - every man, woman and child. In the familiar words of an old friend in Texas (Frank Lehti), "Be a blessing, walk with the King!"