Please Say This With Me...

I WANT TO BE BLESSED! Now say it again. I WANT TO BE BLESSED!

This is a concept that is often forgotten in Christianity, but is absolutely central in understanding our purpose on Earth, and what it is that God wants from us. I have heard many people say over the years, "I am going to obey God's commands, but only because the Bible says so." There are two major things wrong with that statement. The first is more obvious, the second is less obvious, but more important to undertand.

On the surface, the problem that jumps out at us is that God commands us to obey His Word with a serving attitude. A serving attitude is one that obeys out of honor and love, not obligation. But the sub-surface problem that we see here is one of misunderstanding and it is very important.

Many Christians today and throughout history are under the assumption that God commands us to obey Him outside of our desire to be blessed. That is absolutely wrong! God would have us say, "I am going to obey God's commands because I want to be blessed." Why would God want us to say this?

Consider the life of someone who obeys God's Word and seeks His blessing. That is a life that shines bright for all to see. In the metaphor of salt and light, Jesus says in Matthew 5, "14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Now, what is the reasoning that Jesus provides for us in this text? He says, "...so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Here is the point: if we do not seek to be blessed in our good works, our joy will be small, if none, and Jesus will not be glorified as he continues to light our lamps and we continue to put them under a basket.

God wants Christians to be the most joyful people on Earth. That does not mean that he calls us to eat the most, drink the most, and be merry the most! It means that people should see the joy and peace we have in our hearts amidst the innevitable trials that life throws at us each and every day.

In the parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14 Jesus says, "12...'When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

Now check me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe Jesus is in the business of giving defective motivations! Jesus doesn't dangle the carrot in front of us and then say, "ah, ah, ah...you shouldn't want the carrot." When God says, do abc, and you will be blessed with xyz, He means it! And we should seek to be fulfilled by the promise of His blessing!

One major roadblock on the way to understanding this is that many Christians do not feel they deserve to be blessed. This is a matter of guilt and forgiveness. Guilt does not come from God. Burden comes from God, and guilt comes from Satan. Sometimes burden can turn into guilt as a result of Christians who know they are forgiven but do not accept it. The word realize means, know that you know that you know. As a believers in Jesus we have to realize that WE ARE FORGIVEN! And that we not only deserve to be blessed, but we also fail to glorify Jesus if we do not seek his blessing.

One other issue we must address here is that Luke 6 commands us, "forgive, and you will be forgiven." If we are holding back forgiveness towards someone, and the anger is building and building up inside of us, so much that it prevents us from seeking God's blessing, then WE MUST FORGIVE! A lack of forgiveness in our hearts will always take a big basket and place it over our lamp, no matter how bright we want it to shine. By God's grace we must pray for the strength to forgive!

God wants your life and mine to be blessed, but not with big houses and cars and money. That is the prosperity gospel, and it is trash! God wants our lives to be blessed by the ultimate joy of corporate worship, which is the collective glorification of our Savior who promises to repay us at the resurrection of the just! It is by His blood alone that any of us are worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

If we want our lives to be truly blessed in peace and joy then we must live a Christ-centered life and give thanks to God as He uses us to bring others to Jesus and glorify Himself. That is the ultimate blessing and joy!