"Blessed," "Blessing," or "Bless your heart." I don't know of any other word that is as much a part of Christian jargon as the word bless. Engineers don't give that label to a good design--"We are just so blessed that Mary came up with this new configuration for the Q-bolts." Can you imagine an accountant, with his requisite spread-sheets, pronouncing the bottom line, "Blessed"?
God is the bless-er. We are blessed by things like a nice worship service, or a timely visit from a Godly friend.
This isn't an anti-jargon piece. It is a challenge. Do we even know what we are talking about when we claim to be blessed. I fear we don't. Often that which "blesses me" is nothing more than Christianese for "I like it." I find, though, that the Bible speaks of some very un-enjoyable Blessings. In Luke 6 Jesus speaks of poverty, hunger, weeping, and persecution as being conditions of blessing. While those who are well fed, rich, laughing and well-spoken-of as being those who are in a state of woe (Luke 6:20-26). In Psalm 107 blessing begin with misery. As an old joke about a mule goes, "First you got to get his attention." (I've heard it told much better, but here is the joke.)
A song some young people have shared at our church asks, "What if Your blessings come through raindrops . . . ?" (This is just a cellphone video, buthere Grace and Julia share the song at a sister church.) Biblical blessing is more than feeling good; it is being made better.
Too many of we preacher-types are looking for a message to make people feel better, and too many pew-sitters are looking for a more comfortable place to sit. Too bad. We are likely missing some blessings.
Explore the Good News here. A great place to start:
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