Blessed to be a Blessing

"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."

Genesis 12:2

Peter Parker's Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility."  As Spider-man's influence grew, this wisdom became a guiding principle upon which he based his life.  

Similarly, we are kin to the man who was blessed to be a blessing.  Abraham received this promise of blessing not for his own benefit.  No!  It was for the profit of many who would receive salvation through faith in his ancestor, Jesus Christ. 

As the Apostle Paul taught in Galatians 3:14, "Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith." (NLT)

We certainly are a blessed people!  Like Abraham, however, the blessing is not just for my benefit.  I have a great responsibility to be a blessing to others.

Give Generously

I have a friend who is demonstrates generous giving in her daily life.  If someone compliments her on a scarf or on any possession in her home, she immediately gives that item away.  Her thought is that God has blessed her with an over-abundance and she desires to spread the wealth to others.  

There are two things that happen when I give liberally like my friend.  The needs of others are met and they are in turn compelled to give thanks to God.  (2 Corinthians 9:12)  But it is more than just giving things away.  It is a spirit or attitude of generosity that pleases God, for He "loves a cheerful giver." (v 7)

I am blessed with 24 hours in a day.  I can easily use up most of that time in selfish pursuits, or I can give more time in helping others, sharing the Gospel, or loving my neighbor.

I am blessed with a roof over my head.  I can easily use that to benefit myself and my family, or I can share it with others by using it as a base for ministry.  Bible studies, sharing meals and taking care of children are some of the ways I could share my home with those around me.  

I am blessed with an abundance of income.  It is easy to lament the state of my finances, but in comparison to the rest of the world, every American is considered to be rich.  We have more than we need and often spend that surplus on unneeded luxury items.  I can easily use my abundance to pursue my own comfort and pleasure, or I could sacrifice some of those extras in order to benefit someone who is suffering for lack of clean water or adequate food.  

Giving generously is a way I can pass the blessing on to others.

Praise Perpetually

Most of the time I think of praising God as a part of the worship time at church on Sundays or for when I recognize a good thing in my life.  But because of the great hope we have through faith in Jesus, we are called to, "continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name." (Hebrews 13:15)

Praising God perpetually means I could continually hold the goodness of God before me, remembering and acknowledging His hand in every part of my life.  

When the traffic backs up and I am late, I can remember that He is in control and He will get me where I need to go in His time.  Praise God that I run by His clock, not my own.  

When everything seems to be going wrong and I am overwhelmed with life, I can remember His goodness and mercy in granting me another day to live and another breath to take. Praise God that His plan prevails, not my own.

When I feel tired and worthless, I can remember that He is tireless and worthy and His strength will get me through.  Praise God that when I am weak, then I am strong.

Praising God means keeping Him at the forefront of my mind and remembering to lift His name on high in all situations, even when I don't feel like it.   After all, who wants to be around a grump?

Holding an attitude of perpetual praise will change my outlook as I keep my focus on the Lord, benefiting all who come in contact with me.  

Serve Sacrificially

I am constantly bombarded with opportunities to serve.  There are Sunday School classes to teach, nurseries to supervise, snacks to prepare, bulletins to distribute, bathrooms to clean, floors to vacuum, sound equipment to operate. . . the list goes on.  

I can easily give my time, talents and money in ways that I think are beneficial and even sacrificial.  But if I don't bring God into the decision making process, if I simply do what I think I should do, I am missing the point. . . and wearing myself out.

Everything I do should be done out of obedience to the calling of God on my life.  

King Saul had a problem with following directions.  God gave him specific instructions to completely destroy the Amelekites and to leave no human or animal living.  Saul, however, did things His way.  He captured the King Agag alive as well as many sheep and cattle, the best of which he planned to offer as sacrifice to God.  The Lord told him through Samuel that, "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22)

I can do many things that seem noble and righteous in my own eyes.  There was nothing wrong in general with taking plunder as Saul did.  What was wrong was that He didn't follow God's calling on his life.  God told him to do specific things, and he ignored those instructions.

What has God placed on my heart to do that I have ignored?  Reaching out to my neighbor?  Starting a Bible study?  Sharing the Gospel with a co-worker?  Sending notes of encouragement?  Whatever it is, if I don't do that one thing,  I am living in a state of disobedience to God just as much as Saul was.   And no amount of selfless service can make up for that.

One of my purposes is to serve, as Jesus said in Mark 10:45.  "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  But that service must be out of obedience to God.  Even Jesus said He, ". . .can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."  (John 5:19)

I am called to serve in a way that takes time and effort, but only where I see God already working around me, not out of a sense of obligation.  If I simply do what seems good to me, my service is no different than the work done by any other civic organization.  But if I do what God is calling me to do, compelled by His love, He will supernaturally work through me.

Serving sacrificially out of obedience to God will result in His power spilling over into many other lives.

 Just as Abraham received a blessing so that many would be blessed through him, we too are blessed in order to bless others.  By giving generously, praising perpetually and serving sacrificially out of obedience to God, others will benefit. . . and God will be pleased! 

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I will keep God at the forefront of my mind throughout my day.

How do I hoard my time or money for myself or my family?

Am I doing too much out of obligation and not out of obedience?

A Choice to be Made

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you,

then choose for yourselves this day whom

you will serve whether the gods your forefathers

served beyond the River,

or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.

But as for me and my household,

we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:15

There are so many things vying for our attention in this technologically advanced 21^st Century.  There’s the smart phone we can’t leave home without, the Facebook account that can’t sit unchecked for more than 6 hours, the twitter account that seems so important to keep updated, the blogs that must be followed and the games that must be played.   There’s no doubt that we Americans love our technology.

I may not think I serve these things, but when they demand my attention, how much control do I actually have over the time I spend with them?  If I feel I can’t set it aside for one day, who’s serving whom?

I must fight to keep God in the number one place in my life, otherwise everything else will drown Him out.  But these “things” are not the only threat. 

Family Tradition

We do things out of tradition without a second thought.  I remember hearing the story about the young woman preparing a turkey for her very first Thanksgiving feast.  She defrosted the enormous bird in the sink, just like mom, and carefully covered it with the dish drainer turned upside down.  Her husband asked her why she did that, but she replied, “I don’t know.  That’s just how mom always did it.”  Turns out, her mom perfected this technique as a way to protect the poultry from her nosy cats.  Living in a pet-less home, this step was unnecessary for the daughter, but she did it anyway out of blind tradition. 

What traditions do I continue without a second thought as to whether or not this is glorifying to God?  Some families worship at the altar of the television, keeping it on at all times, never giving God a chance to speak in the quiet, still times of the morning.  Other families have always attended a certain church even though the pastor doesn’t really preach the Word and its more about being seen then being challenged and trained for service in a fallen world.  A number of families follow certain traditions at Christmas time that distract from bringing honor to the Christ Child, but are fun and build lasting memories.

What do I do out of sheer habit, blindly doing what my parents and their parents before them have done for years? 

Choosing to serve the Lord means letting go of practices done out of family custom, and intentionally choosing only those things which glorify Him and put Him in the highest place in my household.

The World

I live in a world that is focused completely on my comfort, entertainment and well-being.  It is easy for me to get sucked into his kind of thinking, focusing on myself as the number one priority.

As a believer, however, Jesus has called me to, “Love the Lord (my) God with all (my) heart and with all (my) soul and with all (my) mind.” (Matthew 22:37) This is kind of hard to do when I’m more concerned with my rights, my comfort and my happiness than I am with loving God.  In this passage, Jesus continued with, “’Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (v 39-40) I can’t go wrong if I keep loving God and others at the center of my attention.

It takes no effort at all to slip into the culture of this world.  The music, movies, television and other forms of entertainment are so readily available and are all around me, ready to amuse me, educate me, and to quench my fleshly thirst.  But as a follower of Christ, I have a choice to make.  James warned us to, “keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)

I don’t need to serve the gods of the culture I live in. 

Instead, I can choose to live in a way that sets me apart from the world while protecting the hearts and minds of myself and my family from taking on the beliefs of this world.  In this way, I am showing God honor in my home.  I am telling Him in a tangible way that His ways are more important to me than my comfort, my happiness, or my fitting in.

Jesus reminded me that, “. . . you don’t belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.” (John 15:19) 

Choosing to serve the Lord means only letting things in my home that honor Him, and not getting drawn into the culture around me. 

Choose the Lord

My computer has default settings that are automatically set.  If I don’t intentionally change them, these preset conditions are programmed to exist.  It is the same with me.  My default settings are my fleshly desires, my natural way of doing things, my selfish point of view.

If I want to follow God, I must intentionally change these settings, choosing instead to do things God’s way.  Paul taught in Galatians 5:16 to “. . .live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”  It takes effort to buck my nature, but if I truly desire to do so, I am able to “. . .keep in step with the Spirit.” (v25) I am not powerless against my nature, for I have been given, “a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

It is possible for me to choose the Lord, but I must choose.  Giving Him the first and most honored position in my life is not going to come naturally.

Choosing to serve the Lord means making an effort to give Him the highest place in my thoughts, in my heart and in my home.

There are many things competing for my attention in this world.  If I want to give the Lord my utmost for His highest, I must let go of ungodly traditions, turn my head away from the culture around me and give Him the highest place in my life.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can put more value in honoring God than in pleasing myself.

How do I put my own comfort and happiness above pleasing God?

Where do I look just like the world around me instead of being the salt of the earth?