“‘I’m so blessed.’ You hear it more and more these days,” notes Pastor Richard Allen.
“Most noticeably . . . from famous people, and often in acceptance speeches. Clutching a golden statue they say, ‘I’m so blessed to be here today’ . . . My issue,” continues Allen, “with such usage is not that it is flippant, or even untrue. Actors and politicians can be deeply sincere about feeling blessed. My issue with such usage is that it is so easy to say. It requires little effort, in a moment of victory, to know oneself as blessed.
Perhaps a small dose of humility is necessary, but nothing more. And for those of us watching at home — the un-elected and un-famous, it’s easy to nod our heads in agreement. ‘Yep, you’re blessed alright.’”
What does it mean to be blessed? Generally, we associate blessing or being blessed with all that we have in life: our family and friends, our possessions and our health.
You say you are blessed. I have no doubt you are. Everyone is blessed in some respect, but are you blessed in the way Christ would have you be blessed? Do your values reflect his values, particularly with regard for love for your neighbor? Are you blessed simply by being in Jesus’ presence or does blessing for you have to include all your stuff that you have around you? Stuff can actually be a hindrance to being blessed.
Finally, are you involved in what God is doing every moment of every day…..bringing a New World into being, a World of Justice and Peace? Saints are people who know what it is to be blessed, not in the way the world understands blessing, but in the way Christ modeled blessedness for us. Are you blessed, really blessed? You are really blessed if you model your life after the life of Jesus Christ and you seek to live your life for him.
How are YOU blessed beyond YOUR family and friends, beyond YOUR possessions and beyond YOUR health?
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO GIVE WITHOUT REMEMBERING, AND WHO TAKE WITHOUT FORGETTING!
