Make Me a Blessing!

Hello again!

I hope the bright sun and the warmer weather, despite the persistent breeze, have lifted up your spirits a little higher today!  I love this time of year!  Everything is blooming and new life is in the air and the season for rebirth is fast approaching!  It is truly a blessing to witness the miracles of the seasons each and every year.

With that said, a friend of mine posted a question on his Facebook profile, saying " Why is it so hard sometimes to see our blessings in life?"  I of course, immediately liked the post and casually responded with this statement, " Because, we are often too close to look at it [blessings] without taking it for granted.  Take a step back and look at it more objectively.  God's blessings are all around us."  

With that, I hit respond and continued on my way.  However, his question and my response has stayed on my mind and caused me to pause on more than one occasion in the last twenty-four hours to actually consider the profound "why" to his question.  Why is it we often fail to see blessings?  Isn't that counterproductive?  Aren't blessings the "good, better, and best" parts or moments of our lives? The "feeling on top of the world" emotions and the "everything is going my way" days?  Somehow, I don't believe that is the true meaning of the word blessing.    

Being an English major and a lover of words, I took a few moments to look up the literal definition.  What I found was very interesting.  According to Websters Online Dictionary website http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blessing, a blessing is:

1. the act or words of one that blesses
2. approval, encouragement
3. a thing conductive to happiness or welfare
4. grace said at a meal.

Well!  Nothing abstract here!  It's your basic, "run of the mill" definition of a word we probably learned back in elementary school.  But!  What caught my eye was #1.  The act or words of one that blesses and #3.A thing conductive to happiness or welfare.

Ah ha! I am now thinking and my mind is going a mile a minute...so I decided to let my brain do the talking on this post.  

#3 is perhaps the most obvious.  We are blessed with the basic necessities of life..clothes, food, water, and shelter.  However, we take these for granted, because it is (for the most of us) something we have always known.  As babies, we always felt the security of being well taken care of, and never considered, through our childhood and adulthood, the enormity of these blessings.  I found a "poster" that says it all for me concerning this first item of discussion.

Need I say anymore?  Take a moment, step back, and consider all those around the world, or even your next store neighbor, or a family in your place of worship who are not among the "wealthiest" in the world.  Perhaps then, you'll look at things from a different angle.  It's okay!  We are all guilty of it.  I am not pointing fingers, but I am asking you to take a deeper look.  You may be surprised at what  you see.

#1 spoke to me the deepest.  So often, we consider blessings as something we receive or are given.  But!  What about what we give to others out of a spirit of generosity or more importantly, love?  Jesus said it best, in Acts 20:35, "It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  How interesting!  Blessings are not about what we get but rather what we give?  And giving without expecting to receive anything in return?  You do realize this is so opposite of what society has taught us right?  But then again, Jesus never was part of the "in crowd" or followed "the social trends."  Instead, He asks us to walk outside the bounds of this world so we can see life in an entirely new perspective.  But what blesses others...material items or money?  While these  items, if possible, should be shared, I don't think this is what Christ intended.  Jesus also said "What you do for the least of these, you do for me."  He was referencing the topic of what we do with our time and gifts here on earth.  He said "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’" Matthew 25: 35-36. 

Ah ha!  The light bulb is on!  

Christ was not asking for us to solely give material items or money ( I mean, if you can give that...then do), but rather our time and love; items that have no monetary value, but instead are priceless.  When we give of ourselves, we reap the best of the blessings.  It is then we see glimpses of God's unconditional and perfect love in a VERY imperfect world.  If we're not seeing God's blessings in our lives, perhaps it's because we have not been a blessing ourselves.  

I pray God is opening your eyes each and everyday to the wondrous gifts around you.  Remember to give thanks for each sunrise and sunset, for the next moment is not guaranteed.  Each moment, in itself, is a priceless blessing, and what you do with those moments can be the greatest blessing of all! 

God Bless!    
    

See blessing defined for kids »