Popular culture has repurposed the term “blessing” to suggest a reward for faithfulness or an income of good things. But in Scripture, blessings can be inconvenient, risky and wild moments that reveal another way to be. These blessings have textures that transform our hearts, change our views, move our feet to a new location or prompt us to honor that space we’re meant to hold.

¹Now 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. ²I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

In Genesis, Abram and Sarai receive a blessing that moves them physically. They are told to leave their family and the land they have known forever and travel to an unspecified destination. On the way, they are told, God will bless them with land and descendants who will build a nation and bless the whole world.

Years later, when Abram is still without land or children, he dares to ask God a few clarifying questions. He wonders if the blessing has already occurred and he’s missed it. God replies by inviting Abram to look up—way up. His descendants, God says, will outnumber the stars in the heavens (Genesis 22:17).

   Abram is relieved to hear the vow again and to have somewhere to look for hope. He returns to the ordinary rhythms of his life, where God will bless him with Ishmael and Isaac; where God will give him a new name, Abraham; where God is in the formation of relationships with other tribes and families so that he may purchase his first field at a fair price and peacefully.
                                                                                    From LivingLutheran

We are “blessed to be a blessing.” Count your blessings. Share your thoughts with someone you love.