An image and a blog post came across my screen a couple of weeks ago and it really caught my eye.
What is “that word”, I asked? I read further, and discovered that the word is blessed. To be more precise, there was a hashtag in front of it: #Blessed. It was a challenging and convicting article that has had me pondering for weeks. What is a blessing? What does it mean to be blessed? How do I use the word blessing in my life?
As I write this, there are 31, 672, 763 posts on Instagram with the hashtag #blessed. (Sidenote: If you don’t know what a hashtag is, ask any fifteen year old.) As I quickly scroll, I see pictures of faces – faces of people who are, apparently, #blessed. I see pictures of pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving dinner, new babies, sunsets, flowers, fancy drinks, and new purses.
But is this actually what it means to be blessed? Is this what Jesus meant when he said “blessed are…the peacemakers…the poor in spirit…those who mourn”?
Here is one explanation of blessing for you:
“At its root, a blessing refers to God’s friendly approach to those who are open to receiving divine generosity…Blessings include such things as the gift and enhancement of life, fertility and other forms of tangible reward, the experience of salvation through Christ and the deepening growth of the believing community.” (Robert Banks, The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity)
While I don’t doubt that God gives his people good gifts, long life, and success, how often do we focus on the physical thing, rather than the presence of the Giver in our lives? God promises to always be with us. His presence gives us hope. His presence brings us comfort. His presence is the blessing.
The language we use is so important. How we say things and how often we say things matters. I wonder what our hashtags say about us. Why do we feel compelled to post a photo of our thanksgiving dinner (#blessed) but not a description of our gratitude for the salvation we receive through Christ? Why do we feel compelled to post about our child’s significant accomplishment but not the tough stuff of life that God got us through? Because while we’re posting photos of our Starbucks lattes, many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are struggling to survive, dependent on the presence and hope of Christ every single day. They too are blessed.
And in all the hashtag blessing, are we returning the favour and adoration back to God? With gusto we sing “bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy name!” on Sundays. I think that deep down inside we are not blessing God for the family, fancy dinners, and a nice big house. I hope we’re blessing Him because He is a God who loves and cares for his people. He is a God who is always present. God with us. Immanuel.
You can read the blog post that inspired my thoughts here: http://www.theveryworstmissionary.com/2014/11/blessed.html#more