How we Position Ourselves to Receive God’s Blessing-
Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you- Hosea 10:12
The dictionary defines blessing as:
The act of blessing someone or something or a thing that is conducive to happiness or personal welfare.
Most Christians (as well as many non-Christians and nominal Christians) would define blessing as a God-centered blend of both definitions. A blessing (in the Christian sense of the word) is when God moves on our behalf in a manner that brings greater personal happiness or benefit to our lives.
Okay, so I feel the need to give a little disclaimer before digging into today’s topic, so here goes:
We live in a fallen world. Nowhere in the Bible are blessings guaranteed to anyone (Hebrews 11:1-39). It’s simply a fact that many (most) of God’s best and brightest walked through some incredibly difficult and trying situations, some received tangible blessings in this life others in heaven (Naomi, David, Daniel, Esther, Peter, Paul, Jesus). There is no guaranteed blueprint for obtaining God’s blessing and favor Nonetheless, we can live life in such a way that we position ourselves to walk in the blessings of God.
With that out of the way, I will return to our topic J
Basically, there are two types of blessing in the Bible: conditional and unconditional. An unconditional blessing is a blessing everyone gets just for showing up. Life is a blessing; air is a blessing, sunshine and rain fall on both the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). Therefore, sunshine and rain are unconditional blessings.
Most blessings fall into the conditional category.
Eternal life is a relevant example. Literally, anyone can receive the blessing of eternal life (John 3:16, Romans 6:23, Acts 2:21). However, to receive the blessing of eternal life one must accept God’s terms and conditions (faith in Jesus, repentance). Those are conditions (Acts 3:19, Acts 20:21, Romans 2:6-10, 1st John 5:11-12). The same is true for nearly every blessing found in the Bible. The following choices do not guarantee our life will always be easy and stress free (this is not heaven). These choices do position us to receive blessing and favor.
It all starts with:
Believing in God-
Positioning ourselves for blessing always begins with believing that God is (Hebrews 11:6, getting to know God and choosing to walk with Him in our day-to-day lives (Genesis 5:21, Genesis 6:9, Micah 6:8). A big part of walking with God is obeying Him. The Greek word for believe in the New Testament can also be a synonym for obey. If we really believe in God, we will make a real and resolute effort to obey Him.
Living a life of honesty-
God thoughtfully gave us a short list of the things He hates (Proverbs 6:16-19). Lying makes the list twice. The only exception to the “no lies rule” is lying to save a life (Exodus 1:15-20, Joshua 2:1-14). Other than that one notable exception, God demands honesty from His people. Lying, shading the truth and play-acting at being something or someone you are not (a hypocrite) is the fast-track to a life devoid of God’s blessing and favor (Proverbs 19:5, Psalm 26:4, Matthew 23:1-23). Conversely, a life of honesty and transparency positions us to receive God’s blessing and favor (Proverbs 11:3, Proverbs 12:22, Psalm 15:1-5, 1st Peter 3:10).
Choosing humility-
Jealousy, selfish ambition and vain conceit are all either a form of pride or a natural consequence of pride. God hates pride. (Proverbs 6:16, Proverbs 16:18, 1st John 2:16). Prideful people will not take advice, as a result they don’t grow or learn (Proverbs 1:1-33, Proverbs 11:4, Proverbs 12:1, Galatians 6:3). Furthermore, prideful people put themselves and their desires above the needs of others (Philippians 2:3-4). This creates all sorts of chaos and pain for everyone (Proverbs 13:10). Humility on the other hand is thinking about ourselves less and others more. Humble people know they don’t know everything, so they are curious about how others think and do life, this naturally leads to wisdom and care for others. God loves to bless the humble (James 4:10, 1st Peter 3:8-9, 1st Peter 5:5-6)
Doing good-
God loves those who choose to do good to the best of their ability (Proverbs 2:7-8). Doing good does not guarantee blessing but it certainly sets us up for it.
Living a life of wisdom-
The Bible instructs people to live wisely, according to God’s precepts (Psalm 51:6, Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 2:1-6, Proverbs 6:6, Proverbs 10:8). When we don’t live wisely, life gets messy, and blessings become scarce (Psalm 10:4, Proverbs 12:4, Romans 1:21-23). Too often people make unwise choices and then become bitter when they fail to receive God’s blessing. Here’s an example, let’s say Joe or Jane Christian is praying for a godly spouse, but Joe or Jane spends the bulk of their time with non-Christians doing all sorts of non-Christiany things. Joe and Jane go to bars and pot shops trolling for dates. They rarely attend church. Eventually they meet a special someone who claims to be a Christian. This special someone rarely attends church. During their premarital counseling they were told by the Pastor to wait to get married. They disregarded his counsel. They get married and it’s a disaster. PLEASE, for the love of all that’s good and decent, don’t misunderstand this point: I feel deep compassion for anyone trapped in a bad marriage or any other ugly and unfortunate situation. I have certainly made my fair share of stupid choices and have no room to judge. The point here is not to shame anyone but to encourage wisdom in the way we live, because wisdom invites blessing.
There is nothing wrong with wanting God’s blessing and favor as long as we want God at least as much as we want what He can bless us with.
