In the twelfth Chapter of Genesis, God called Abram and declares, “The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen.12:1-3)

We derive several principles about blessings from these verses.  First of all, God is the source of blessing.  Secondly, blessings seem to be associated with God’s purposes for a location, an individual, a family line, or a nation.  Next, it seems that blessings impart the power, life, health, and prosperity that enable the object of the blessing or the person receiving the blessing to fulfill their God-given purposes.  Finally, blessings can be passed on and are activated by the words we speak as God’s priests on the earth.

In a general way, a blessing deposits the favor of God or the grace of God and the resources of heaven on whatever or whomever God determines to use to fulfill his purposes. God even blessed a day. “Therefore, God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Ex.20:11).  When God blessed the Sabbath, he apparently assigned his favor to the day and those who kept the day faithfully could make withdrawals from that favor.  God also declared that those who blessed Abraham would be blessed and that all the people on the earth would be blessed through him or through his descendants. \

That declaration applies not only to the Messiah coming through Abraham’s bloodline, but also to the contributions the Jews would make to the world.  If you research a list of Nobel Prize winners, Jewish recipients are hugely over-represented in all categories including the arts, science, and medicine.  All nations have truly been blessed by the descendants of Abraham.

Paul further refined our understanding of the descendants of Abraham under the New Covenant when he said, “Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham” (Gal.3;6-7).  By faith, we are also descendants of Abraham and the world is to be blessed through us as conduits of his grace. This truth and this job description for followers of Jesus cannot be overstated.

It is the nature of God to bless.  As his representatives on the earth, our nature should mirror his.  If God is the source of blessings, then as his children who desire to be like him, we too should be constant sources of blessing…even toward our enemies.  Jesus commands, “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Lk.627-28). A blessing is simply a prayer or declaration that directs the life-giving, enabling grace of God to rest on someone.

James pushes back on our propensity to speak death over others and sternly declares,  “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water” (Ja.3:7-12).

James makes the point that both blessing and cursing should not come from the same mouth.  He treats it as something unnatural. Instead, we should be sources of fresh water that give life in every circumstance. Since the Holy Spirit is living water within us and his words are life, our words should direct that life toward others and their circumstances.  As his representatives, we are to be distributors of God’s grace on the earth through blessings we speak.

In 1 Peter 2, the apostle tells us that we are a holy and royal priesthood belonging to God.  One of the primary functions of the Levitical priesthood was to bestow God’s blessings on God’s people. The Lord told Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: ‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’ So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” The priests directed the blessings of God toward Israel by speaking a blessing over them. God was poised and ready to bless, but he waited on his priests to declare the blessing before he released it, In short, regarding this blessing, God said, “I will do it when you have said it.”

Christ is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek and that is the priesthood in which we serve. We serve under a better covenant, with a greater priesthood, lead by a great high priest who will never die. How much greater should the blessings be that we direct than those given by the Levites? As in many things, we partner with God.  There are those he is willing to bless but he waits on us to declare the blessing over them.  I don’t believe this is indiscriminate blessing, but blessing directed by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is our model for living and serving and he did nothing without a prompting from the Father.

I believe a large part of our ministry as believers should be the giving of blessings.  As we go, perhaps, one of our daily prayers should be, “Lord, show me who you want to bless today and give me the very words for that blessing.”  The holiday season would be a perfect time to begin your ministry of blessing to those God wants to bless.