I Will Bless You....

 I will bless you, ....and you will be a blessing (Genesis 12).  

All people on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12).

"Holiness" is nothing less than participation in the life of the Trinity, in the Divine Exchange of Love and Blessing.  We know that whoever comes to God is blessed; His first act following the creation of Adam and Eve was to bless them.  We know that whoever came to Jesus, saint or sinner, during His sojourn on earth was blessed and welcomed into His own relationship with the Father through the giving of the Holy Spirit.  And after Jesus' Ascension, the Holy Spirit was sent as a blessing on "people from every nation who fear God and do what is right" (Peter, in Acts 10).

I will bless you and you will be a blessing.....  This morning, I suddenly realized something very simple -- those who have entered into relationship with God have become a blessing to others.  It is not necessary that we identify those who belong to our church, our doctrine, etc.  Entering into a relationship with God comes in many forms.  In Acts 10, Cornelius, a centurion in the Italian Regiment, was described as "devout and God-fearing, giving generously to those in need, and praying to God regularly."  Obviously, though not a Jew, and not observing the law, Cornelius had some sort of relationship with God -- and God poured out on him and his entire household the Gift of the Holy Spirit.  

Cornelius was already a blessing to those around him; the gift of the Spirit enabled him to enter even more deeply into God's divine life and thus to become an even greater blessing on earth.

When we look around us, we can find many like Cornelius whose lives are a blessing to those around them. Some time ago, I was disturbed by the statement of one of my friends that an acquaintance was "going to hell" because she is a Buddhist and has not accepted Jesus Christ.  But I happen to know that this woman is a blessing in all she does to those around her.  If the story of Cornelius tells us anything, it is that God blesses those who "obey him and do what is right."  And those who are so blessed become in turn a blessing to the earth.

If God pours out His Spirit on those who are in some relationship with Him --- and He does, in one way or another --- then the Spirit of God will inevitably lead us into the Truth.  In the meantime, we can recognize God-at-work in other people by their lives.  If their lives are a blessing to others, we can know for sure that somehow God is moving in them, and that the Gift of His Spirit is not far behind!