Blessed

The word bless, or some variation of the word, appears over 450 times in the Scriptures. At times God is blessed and on other occasions God blesses His people. Jesus gave promises of blessing to Believers in the New Testament. We shall examine three of them this week.

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.  

Matthew 13:16

First, Jesus gives the blessing of revelation. He has revealed Himself to us through the Holy Spirit. Our spiritual eyes and ears have been opened. We see Him by faith and we hear Him through His Word. Through Jesus we were made aware of our sinfulness and our need for a Savior. We were made alive and we believed in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. We give praise to Christ for revealing Himself to us. Thank God for revelation.

But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

Luke 11:28

Jesus also gives the blessing of obedience. We are blessed when we obey the Word of God. The blessing may not appear immediately but it does arrive. We obey Him because we love Him. And Christ never dismisses our obedience. Rather, He sees our faithfulness and blesses it. Life is not perfect even for Christians. But, it is comforting to know that following Jesus is never in vain. Discipleship always, eventually produces the fruit of obedience.

Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”  John 20:29

Ultimately, Christ gives the blessing of faith. Thomas believed when he saw Jesus. We are blessed because we believe even though we haven’t seen Christ in the flesh. Faith requires trust even when we can’t see or sense the promise. We hold to the Word of God even we can’t sense the final outcome.  Jesus’ promised blessing flows to all who believe in Him and await His coming.

Dear Believer, you are blessed. Be joyful and thankful this week. You are blessed!

Tony French