Why God’s “Bless you” means so much more than ours usually does

By Dean Collins

Maybe it's just a Southern thing, but have you noticed there’s a whole lot of “blessing” going on? Be blessed. I’m blessed.  Bless you. Have a blessed day. We hear and see these and other variations every day— on social media, in conversations, in emails. Blessings are acknowledged and invoked nearly everywhere. I’ve been blessed by government workers and gas station attendants. 

I suspect the meaning and the theology behind all these statements have a very wide range. For some it might be wishing luck on someone, and for others it might be inviting the God of the universe to intervene in a situation.

From the creation story and all the way to the end of Revelation we read of God’s blessing on his children. “Bless the Lord, O my soul; all that is within me bless his Holy name” is the prayer David declared in Psalm 103. When God is the object of our blessing we are lifting up praises to him. To bless God is to adore him and to offer both our words and our life back to him.

God’s blessing affirmed

Three passages jumped out at me this morning. God spoke to Abram declaring his blessing over him and that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. We live and experience this blessing even today through Jesus.

The book of Psalms opens with this promise: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” The wisdom of God comes to us through God’s blessing. When we follow his wisdom and meditate on his word there is protection on our journey and joy in our steps.

My reading today ended with the first section of the Sermon on the Mount. Nine times Jesus starts a sentence with the word blessed. These beatitudes describe both the way Jesus lived and the characteristics of his kingdom. There isn’t a to-do list in these verses. This list describes those who possess his kingdom, who receive his comfort, who inherit the earth, who are satisfied, who receive mercy, who will see God, who are called God’s sons, and whose reward will be great in Heaven.

God’s blessings experienced

When we read these words of Jesus, we quickly notice that the characteristics of his kingdom are the opposite of many things we do each day to make ourselves happy. The blessed life in the kingdom of God isn’t one that news media report on daily. It is not the characteristics of our political and business leaders. Sadly, it often doesn’t resemble the life and behaviors of our local church. Yet it draws us in. These words are more than elegant prose or poetry. These words speak life, bring life, and give life to others as we embrace their author. It is in Jesus that we find our blessing.

The apostle Paul ties it all together for us in Ephesians 1. Take a few minutes and consider, even experience, the power of God’s blessing as Paul describes this gift for us.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

Have and live a blessed day!

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭12:1-4‬; Psalm‬ ‭1:1-2; Matthew‬ ‭5:3-12; Ephesians‬ ‭1:3-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash

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