I hear people talk about being Blessed and having Blessings. But the comments seem to indicate a belief in a lottery approach by God.
If I have the right attitude, and do the right things, and praise just the right way… I’ll receive a blessing.
I don’t know what that blessing will look or feel like.
I don’t know when He will feel that I deserve the attention.
I do know that God is able to grant blessings. He’s got a whole store-house filled with blessings that He can shower on me.
I do know that the Bible promises blessings for those who obey.
I don’t know when what I receive will look like a curse at first, but be a blessing at last.
Some people see the Bible messages stating that if I please God with my life, He will bless me.
Kind of a Cause-Effect relationship.
Do something from the BeGood List – Get blessed.
Do something from the BeBad List – Get whacked.
Who can live up to the standard of perfection that the law requires?
God is not holding a bag of candy, trying to entice us to earn a blessing. The blessings are the result of myChoice For God – to be His child.
The blessings are within the life lived for God. They are woven into the fabric of such a life.
Sometimes it takes careful scrutiny to discover that the life event holds a blessing.
Choices.
God is constrained by His laws, as I am.
My choices can limit what He is legally able to do for me.
He cannot break His laws. So He is limited by them.
He cannot break His laws because all of His laws are but a reflection of Him. He cannot be other than Who He Is.
A life that is in harmony with God is open to receive all of the benefits of that harmony.
God’s Law is a statement of a perfect life – a life of service: Service to God, first; Service to others, second.
God, each of the unfallen angels, and each of the creations on Other Worlds in the cosmos, live to serve. Their hearts, their minds, their emotions, their devotions, their desires – pulse with the love of service.
Loving obedience is the way that I demonstrate my choice to worship God.
Within the relationship that attaches to my loving obedience I have access to the benefits of such a choice. Answers to prayer, direction for my life, assurance of acceptance, sins forgiven...
And later - Heaven, eternal life, New Earth, cosmic travel...
During my life on this earth, I am blessed with an abundance of gifts showered on me by God.
I have a loving family. I enjoy the friendship of hundreds of fellow believers. I have a back yard big enough for a garden. Each bloom, each sugar pea, each bean pod – is a blessing.
I am able to hear the birds sing their love songs to Jesus.
I watch a married Cardinal couple smooch at my feeder and marvel at the mind of the Creator. Every male cardinal looks just like every other male cardinal. Yet the female knows her mate.
The washing machine quits, and I discover that insurance will replace it.
The septic tank develops problems, and we ‘happen to find’ a couple of experts who knew just what to do – at minimal cost.
Asthma. Arthritis. Allergies. Cancer.
Did those things happen because I wandered away?
Or were they actually blessings in disguise?
I don’t have all the answers about Blessings.
The birds still sing even if I don’t attribute their song to God’s Blessings. The flowers still bloom. The vegetables still grow.
What’s the difference?
I’m content. I don’t have to struggle for recognition, for praise, for wealth.
I look at a small bloom in my yard and know that the same God who sends life to that plant, is taking care of my life, my needs.
My future.
This life isn’t all that there is.
Eternal life awaits me. Chats with my Friend, Jesus. Now that’s a blessing!
“Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”
Really! Look for blessings and you’ll start seeing them.
Comments are welcomed. Email: eldon.roberts at gmail.com
