Just recently, I have been among a group of people whom when you asked them how are they doing they will respond … “I am blessed.”
What does that mean? Every time I hear this answer, I wonder what does the individual mean. Do they really have any idea of what it means to be “blessed?”
Mark 10:16 says that Jesus took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them. Boy, would I have liked to been there to see with my own eyes and heard with my own ears what Jesus did and said. Adding to the drama for me is the truth that Jesus did not say or do anything that He didn’t hear or see from His Heavenly Father.
So, what is the blessing of God? Is it spiritual and only spiritual? Yes and no! Matthew 5 & Luke 6 spell out our blessing. Being blessed is how God’s character is worked into us, continues with God using us to bless others and ends with us having an experiential knowledge of God and inheriting His Kingdom. Yes, hardship is involved in this blessing process.
Much to many’s misunderstanding, blessing is not a blanket promise for material wealth. Yet, being blessed does hold the comfort of knowing that we will always know His provision because He is Jehovah Jireh. The earth and all that is in it belong to the LORD. Therefore, He bestows blessing on His children from out of His wealth.
God’s blessing is both spiritual and physical which also encompasses the emotional, relational and psychological areas of our lives.
When you look at Matthew 5, those who are poor in spirit, meek, merciful and persecuted are blessed. Luke 14:13 says that those who invite the poor and the lame to their banquets are blessed. Even more, children are blessed (Mark 10:16), those who hear and obey the Word of God are blessed (Luke 11:28), those who do not fall away are blessed (Luke 7:23) and those who are invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb are blessed in (Revelation 19:9).
In short, those who trust in Christ and grow to be like Him are blessed. Now … are you living the blessed life?
