Are we really blessed?
In our culture, we tend to think of blessings as:
- Health
- Wealth
- Popularity
- Prosperity
- Protection
But Jesus said, blessed are:
- The hopeless
- The grieving
- The humble
- The persecuted
- The slandered
Those last 5 are not exactly blessings I would choose. But would I then miss out on the only blessing that really matters? What, exactly, is biblical blessing?
Perhaps the answer is in the benediction that has been spoken over congregations of God-followers for thousands of years.
In Numbers 6, God ordered Aaron to pronounce His name over His people with these words:
‘Y’varekh’kha Adonai v’yishmerekha.
[May Adonai bless you and keep you.]
Ya’er Adonai panav eleikha vichunekka.
[May Adonai make his face shine on you and show you his favor.]
Yissa Adonai panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom.
[May Adonai lift up his face toward you and give you peace.]’
B’midbar (Numbers) 6:24-26
The word for “bless” here can also mean “to stoop down.” So, I imagine he was saying something like this:
“May God bless you (as a father stoops down to look his child in the face) and keep you (He protects His little ones from the evil one.)
May God show you favor (like a Father favors his own) and offer you His grace (though undeserved, freely given.)
May God lift up His face toward you (indicating that He has elevated you) and grant you peace with Himself (through the gift of adoption.)”
The fulfillment of this beautiful blessing was found at the cross, and the blessing God offers to us is a relationship with Himself, through Jesus.
This blessing isn’t found where God’s hands reach out to fill ours with bounty; it is found in the outstretched, nail-pierced hands of our Savior.
It’s not in finding fame or fortune we are blessed, but in seeking (and finding) the face of God.
It’s not in living a perfect life, but in being made into the perfection of Jesus at salvation.
It’s not in gaining more of the world, but in losing something of this world to gain more of Christ.
It’s not about triumphs or having a good life, it’s about our trials being redeemed to bring about our highest good.
The blessing is not nearly as much in the presents He gives as it is in the gift of His presence.
I don’t know about you, but I love the image of Creator God—Abba—stooping down next to me, His face, beaming with love, turned upward toward mine while He calls me His. All of this possible, because He turned His face away from His own Son for my sake. Jesus was rejected so I could be accepted. Cursed, so I could receive the blessing. Sacrificed, so that I may live.
No wonder God wanted these words spoken over His people often! In the midst of the valley, at the beginning of a new journey, or at the end of a long desert experience, it is good that we be reminded of His goodness and grace.
Speak life… lest we forget how truly blessed we are.
🧡Audra
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
