God bless you!

August 28, 3:04 PMFaith & Culture ExaminerDr. Bob Beltz

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  “I really needed that!”  I had just landed a 19” rainbow trout (see picture) after a long dry spell at my angling hobby.  I honestly think that if I had been “skunked” one more time I might have given up fly-fishing.  I used to give up golf on numerous occasions until I realized that I really didn’t play enough to give it up, so I should just try to give up playing well.  I now shoot in the mid-seventies – but I only play nine holes.

What do we really need?  I would like to suggest that at the most basic level every person needs to be blessed.  I would also like to suggest that in many pursuits of life we chase things that will never meet the real need we have for God’s blessing.  I guess I better define and explain what I mean when I speak about being blessed.  The most common use of the expression seems to be in response to some acquisition that has come our way or some accomplishment we have experienced.  “Hey, congratulations on the new Ferrari!”  “Thanks, I’m blessed.”  But the spiritual meaning of the word and concept goes much deeper.

I define blessing as “the touch of God on our lives that brings healing and wholeness.”  It is a concept that permeates the Bible.  The first act of God in relation to humanity’s creation was: “And God blessed them…” (Genesis 1:22).  Part of what was lost in the fall of man was this touch of God on our lives.  When the plan to provide redemption and restoration for the human race was launched in Genesis, we are told that God called Abraham (Abram at the time) and told him that he would blesshim, and that because God blessed him he would become a source of blessing, and that eventually the entire world would be blessed through his descendants (Genesis 12:1-3).  The void and emptiness and sense of longing and desire that characterizes the human condition would someday be filled.   

A number of years ago I had a profound experience of being blessed.  I had been at a concert where much of the music was focused on worshipping God.  At some point during the evening I experienced such a profound touch on my life that I left the event feeling almost intoxicated.  I imagine this was a small example of what the early followers of Jesus experienced on the Day of Pentecost where the crowd around them thought they were drunk.  As I reflected on what was happening to me, I began to recall parts of the Bible where the world “bless” appeared.  I had been spending regular time reading the Book of Psalms and I remembered that the very first psalm begins with the words, “Blessed is the man…” (Psalm 1:1).  I went and grabbed my Bible and turned to the passage.  I happened to glance at the second psalm and caught the worlds of the final verse where the psalmist writes that “Blessed are all that put their trust in him”.  I moved on to the third psalm and spotted the words “Your blessing is upon your people” (Psalm 3:8).  The fourth psalm didn’t contain the word “bless”, but it did say that God put more joy in the psalmist’s heart (inner being) than when other’s wine and oil abounded (Psalm 4:7).  That sounded a lot like blessing to me.  Then Psalm 5 again uses the word “bless” when the writer observes that God will bless the righteous (Psalm 5:12). 

I turned over to the New Testament and went to the Sermon on the Mount.  This is perhaps the most well-known and classic text summarizing the heart of all that Jesus taught.  Jesus begins the discourse by making nine statements that all begin with the formula “Blessed are…”  He was teaching his audience how to access the reality that would meet their deepest needs: blessing.  In a sense, one of the major messages of the entire Bible is captured in the expression “God bless you!”  We need to hear this and speak this in more circumstances than when we sneeze.  It is not intended to be a cliché.

I need God’s blessing in my life.  I need his touch that brings wholeness and healing in my life.  Like David, I am poor and needy.  I am wounded and insecure.  I am fearful and unstable.  I am a mess. In the words of those who struggle with alcohol as the outward manifestation of the human condition, I am powerless over the effects of being part of the human race.  I am desperate.  I need God’s touch. I want God’s blessing.  I want to be blessed and then I want to be a blessing.  This is another amazing part of this concept.  God told Abraham, “You will be a source of blessing” (Genesis 12:2). We not only can be recipients of God’s blessing in our lives, we can be a source of his blessing to other people.  I want to be blessed, and I want to be a blessing.  Truly, if that is all I have, it is enough.  Without it, nothing is enough.   

How do you get blessed?  One way is to ask.  Jabez is a character that is briefly mentioned in the Old Testament (I Chronicles 4:9-10).  We are told that he asked God to bless him.  He actually asked God to bless him a lot.  God was pleased with the request and answered the prayer.  I believe God is actually pleased that we would desire to be blessed and glad that we ask.  Another way to get blessed is to put into practice the nine “tips” Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount and take action that will get you blessed.  Finally, you can get blessed by someone else, and then be an instrument of blessing in the life of someone else.  One of the great examples of both of these potentials is found at the end of a series of instructions given to the newly ordained priesthood of Israel.  God told them to pray over the nation using these words:

Yahweh (the name of God that we often translate “Lord”) bless you and keep you.

Yahweh make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.

     Yahweh lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you shalom (his peace). (Numbers                6:24-26). 

God then told Moses that when the priests did this, they were putting God’s name on the people, and in response, God would bless them.

I used to pray this over my children every night when they were young and I put them to bed.  I still periodically grab one of them and pray this for them.  Sometimes I pray this silently over my granddaughter when I hold her.  I periodically pray this over my wife.  I want all these loved ones to be blessed.  I want you to be blessed, and I want you to be a blessing.  It is the best thing I can wish for you.  I know many of you.  Others of you have probably haphazardly stumbled on this page and kept reading out of curiosity.  But I want you to get blessed.  So I am going to pray that as you read these words, God would bless you:  “God bless you!”