Blessing

Rev Christopher Rao shared with us today a sermon for Genesis 12:1-3, the 4 C's of blessings.

Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV)
1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 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. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

This is first of the blessings that God annouced for Abraham, one more time in Gen 22:1-18, reaffirmed and reiterated every now and then as recorded in Genesis.

1. Circumstances
Have you not noticed that God somehow blesses us in the most unexpected circumstances? We may think that God will bless us in our best of times but is it not often that God blesses us in times we didn't think we will be? God blesses Abraham but before he did that, he wanted Abraham to leave the comfort and the security of his home, to a place not yet seen, but promised. Abraham with much faith, obeyed, and was blessed.

2. Challenges
Having a blessed life so to speak does not exempt us from life's challenges. On the other hand, the challenges will be the source of God's blessings for us. God chose someone from Israel to be the bearer of the seed, to be the father of all nations. Logic will have us choose someone young, strong and fruitful, who already has many children and able to bear more. But God chose Abraham and Sarah, old and barren. So that we know that it is God at work.

3. Choice
Abraham needs to make choices that reinforces God's blessings in his life. Almost throughout his whole life story in Genesis, he chose the way of God and looked to God, relying on him for everything.

4. Condition
There is a condition in which the blessing of God operates in. This condition involves the social dimension. The way we relate and interact with others will or will not result in blessings. And God works quite opposite the way of the world. While the world glorifies self-centeredness, always concerned about what's-in-it-for-me, God wants us to deny ourselves, and focus on others, to give and to bless. We are blessed so that we can be a blessing to others. What will it be for us?

pearlie