January 13, 2014:

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”” –Numbers 6:24-27

It has recently been drawn to my attention that I am beginning to take the place of my father at family gatherings. Don’t get me wrong, my father is alive and well. He is still  busy with the changes and exciting new adventures that take place at Hosanna Lutheran Church. I say this because when I was younger, dad was always the one asked to pray for meals, well anything really at all family gatherings. I had always viewed it as a kind of burden for him because no one else would even brave the thought. It always seemed like they were pawning off the responsibilities and I have always wondered why that is. Is it because he is the church worker? Probably. Is it because people are scared or nervous to pray in front of others? Maybe. Is it because people haven’t been taught how to pray out loud? Maybe.

            In verse 27 of Numbers chapter 6 it says this: “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” We have been approaching prayer and blessing in a wrong mindset. What is the old saying? We are blessed to be a blessing. We have been given the greatest opportunity of all when it comes to prayer and blessing. We get to share our Heavenly Father’s affection for His people. We get to share His blessing with all people and that blessing is the greatest gift we can ever receive. A blessing that marks us with undeserved grace and forgiveness and sets us apart as children of the Most High. A gift that we should all be fighting to remind people of!

“The Gospel is about grace and we all know that grace is about us receiving from God blessings that we don't deserve.” -Tony Campolo