Blessed To Be A Blessing

The Word is first...

Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV)

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.

² “I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

³ I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.”

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

Abram... what a guy. Commanded to leave so he left, commanded to sacrifice his son so he set about doing it, faithful, obedient, an example to be emulated. In fact, today's passage is where God told Abram to pack it up and move out. No forwarding address, just a caravan of people and animals striking out in the direction that God pointed, so to speak. Oh, and a promise, let's not forget that.

Today's passage contains not only the command from God to Abram to 'move out' but also the promise for his obedience. God said to Abram "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Now THAT is a blessing indeed! Let's look at it bit by bit, as is my habit.

Almighty God, the one worthy to be praised and the rightful heir to all the blessings we can give is promising to Abram that He, God will bless him, Abram. He will cause Abram's family to be the root from which a great nation will grow. From reading the books of history we know that that great nation is Israel, God's chosen people.

Then God says that he will make Abram's name great and Abram will be a blessing. Well, need I say anything more than "Father Abraham?" When counting down the hall of fame for those counted faithful in the eyes of God, Abram is near the top of the list. I'd say that's a pretty great name he has received. And it is through Abram that Israel became a nation and it is from Israel that Jesus came. In this way, Abram is indeed a blessing.

God promises to bless those who bless Abram and to curse those who curse him. At this point, I'm not certain he is referring to Abram the man or Israel the nation but regardless, we need look no further than today's headlines to see that this promise is still being fulfilled. Am I the only one predisposed to Israel?

God promises that 'all peoples on earth will be blessed through you' and this is the supreme blessing in the person of Jesus Christ.

Great lands, fame, fortune and power were not the things that Abram needed as part of his blessing. All he needed was the favor of God to be upon him and for God to use him in the grand scheme of things. Abram was blessed to be a blessing.

My prayer is that God would bless me too to be a blessing to others. Oh sure, I'd appreciate an over-abundant bank account but God gives me an abundance of friends instead. And as I count the many blessings that God has bestowed to me, I pray that my friends count me among their blessings too. I'm happy to be blessed to be a blessing. Now, as I set forth for strange lands and strange people in response to God's calling, I pray that he will use me in that place, as Abram was used, as a blessing to others.

Grace and Peace unto you,
Carl