“God doesn’t bless us just to make us happy; He blesses us to
make us a blessing.”
— Warren Wiersbe
Having met a special mentor recently, reflecting over both our
respective years, I was given a precious piece of advice: enjoy the
blessing. It was one of
those pieces of advice that causes you to reflect quite deeply; it’s a piece of
advice that has many nuances of significant meaning. Advice like this can
define an entire season.
As I write this I’m caused to land on one facet of this advice.
And it’s the quote above that gives blessing its true basis. Perhaps the quote
below helps explain:
“We are filled by
the Spirit for the overflow.”
— Peter Christofides
A blessing isn’t maximised unless we use the blessing of God
over our lives to make us a blessing, to others. God blesses us through the
infilling of the Holy Spirit such that we would be quick to overflow his
blessing onto others. This is nothing about flattery, but everything about
seeking God regarding the most appropriate ways to speak God’s love into
others’ lives, in the right way at the right time.
When
Enjoyment Is Made More Abundant
The beautiful thing about blessing is that it is unlimited in
scope for the enjoyment.
Because God multiplies every good thing, and this blessing is a
very good thing, more joy and more enjoyment is made possible in growing the
blessing by paying it forward. Love was always meant to multiply. And blessing
is love.
The moment we refuse to enjoy the blessing all to ourselves, and
look quickly to others so as to bless them, the blessing is grown.
This is our opportunity of love.
Life without love is meaningless, yet life with love is an
abundance of purpose; the mission of God.
The Gospel could be encompassed in this principle: Love gives
itself away; Love insists on the rights of others over itself; the greatest
love is that of a person giving up their lives (and their blessing) for another.
Christ is the greatest example of the blessedness in giving away the blessing. We are all
beneficiaries!
Enjoying the blessing, therefore, has to be about further
investments of love toward even more blessing—targeted towards others. Love
grows in such seedbed of blessing. And nothing will diminish it where we are
other-focused.
We are all blessed in many ways, and our role in gratitude of
these blessings is to overflow them on to others, such that they may be inspired to pay it forward.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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