Blessing

Several overreaching and eternal concepts permeate the pages of Scripture.  These include love, redemption, salvation, presence, and power, all manifested in God.  But there is an attribute, also Godly, that God passes on to us.  This attribute allows God to show Himself to the world through God's people, the Church.  That attribute is "blessing."

In Genesis 12, God tells Abraham, "All people on earth will be blessed through you."  God sends David as Israel's greatest king to bless the nation of Israel through his leadership.  God sends the prophets to inform, warn, and guide His people as a blessing.  God sends Jesus into the world as "God with us" as a blessing.  God sends the 12 apostles to teach and act as part of God's blessing to the nations.  God sends His Spirit at Pentecost to indwell and bless His Church so that they will go out into all nations to bless the world.  That responsibility (and true blessing) is now sent to us, so that we can, as the body of Christ, go out and bless the world.  We stand on the shoulders of God's great messengers, as we interpret God's character and salvation to all we see.  It is an awesome and beautiful responsibility!

Sunday, we will send our seniors into a broken world.  Their call and responsibility is to become a blessing that fulfills God's plan and purpose.  One of these young ladies, Anna Grace Blalock, has been raised-up in our congregation and has been a blessing to all of us.  This week we will shed tears of joy, hope, and love, as we sing Anna Grace into the next step of her young life.  And we, as the verse from Numbers 6:24-26 perfectly conveys a blessing God has sent us, calling us to pass it along, will say, "The Lord bless and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace."  Go with our blessing to be a blessing!  AMEN