God chose Abram to start the nation of Israel. He sent him away from his family, away from all that he knew. And He made this promise: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing,” (Gen 12:2 ESV). I will bless you. Future tense. I will bless you. Ah, the concept of blessing. So misused and misunderstood. I really feel sorry for it at times.
We have focused so much on being blessed. We have actually slipped into the same misunderstanding that the nation of Israel did. They focused so much on being the blessed ones that they forgot God had promised to bless them for a purpose. That beautiful conjunction: so that. Actually, I don’t know if that’s a conjunction at all. It wasn’t on Schoolhouse Rock. But it’s found often in the Bible. I first noticed it doing a study of Jeremiah. It’s all through that book. God continually stating His purpose. I did this, SO THAT this would happen. And that’s what He does here. His end purpose is not blessing us. That is a means to an end. He says I will bless you SO THAT you will be a blessing.
The same is true for us today. He still has bigger plans for us than just blessing us. I believe He still wants to do that as well. But He wants to bless us SO THAT we will be a blessing. He wants to show us grace SO THAT we will show grace to others. He wants to forgive us SO THAT we will forgive others. He wants to love us SO THAT we will love others. And by doing those things, we will bring Him glory. Our lives have a purpose. God’s plan for us did not end at our salvation. He wants to bless us SO THAT we will be a blessing.
Your thoughts?
Todd
Very true, and yet it’s so much easier to rest in the blessings. But if we’re really resting in God, (as in abiding him Him) we wouldn’t be able to rest on our laurels. At least I don’t think we could. If we’re abiding in Him; His grace, forgiveness, love, etc. would flow through us to those around us even if we aren’t purposing it too.
You have fun now, and know that I’m praying for you and the home front.
Tess
amen!
Seems like we often stop short of the “SO THAT” and miss the real blessing. I wonder how many “SO THAT’s” I’ve missed in my lifetime!
Too often have I fallen into this statisitic of CHristians who have forgotten God’s purpose in blessing us. My hearts desire is to apply the things we learn in Jeremiah and the entire Bible for that matter. Really take the things that God blesses with the scriptures and really living them out.
I think really learning to love people who seem to be unlovable is one area that I have struggled with as well as learning to love people for whom I do not see eye to eye with.
Thanks for the thoughts, it gives me something more to pray about.
Yes! God IS perfect love, and love is best above all other things! He loves us so that love, Himself, will spread and grow!