Blessing ≠ Approval
Recently I have been reading about Jacob, the father of
nations, who battled with God and saw great promises of God come to pass. He
was a deceiver, a trickster, a man who didn’t always trust in God’s word, yet
he was blessed. Why?
The blessing we see in the lives of men and women in the
Bible is not about their worthiness. I often read it as though God approved of
their behaviour and looks beyond their sin, as though they somehow deserve the
blessing. But God blesses them despite their sin, their weakness,
their fear and doubt…that is who God is.
The blessing of God does not imply any kind of perfection on
the part of the one being blessed. Don’t read all the stories in the Bible as
though God approves. God did not approve when Jacob deceived his brother, He
did not approve when Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, or when Judah
slept with Tamar without knowing who she was…yet God still blessed these people
because of His own mercy and goodness. God has a plan and HE alone decides whom
He will bless and favour in that plan. He knows who to preserve and protect in
order that His plan proceeds according to His will.
Even for us. We need to be careful of how we think about
this. When we are blessed by the Lord it is not because we deserve it or have
blessing because God approves of everything we do. He does not approve of our
sinful behaviour, ever…yet He chooses that we will be blessed despite our
weakness and failure because of His plans for His kingdom in our lives.
The greatest blessing of all, our salvation through Jesus’ death and
resurrection, came while we were still sinners. We didn’t deserve any of it. Romans 5:8 ‘But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die
for us while we were still sinners.’
How wonderful is our God!
And I am thankful for that. Thankful that God does not treat
us according to what we deserve, because if He did, who could stand? I am
grateful for the mercy and grace of our Lord and the many, many blessings he
has showered upon me regardless of my weakness, failure, and sin.
Our God is a good God. Full of mercy, grace and love.
Amen. Totally agree. He is a good father. This is His story, and His will, will be done.
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