“The Lord Bless and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon
you and be
gracious to you; the Lord lift up
his continuance upon you and give you peace”
(Numbers 6:24-26, NRSV).
Isn’t this wonderful to begin our new day with this blessing? A
biblical scholar, who lived in Israel some years ago, shared his experience
with an orthodox Jewish people in Jerusalem. According to him, they love to
bless others with that blessing. And when someone does, they stand firm and
respond with threefold amen like “Amen, Amen, Amen!” I mean, “truly, truly,
truly!” Seems like they are all eager to receive that blessing. I wonder
why?
By the way, greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ!
Now, it is all green around us! And it is so amazing to see those
colors of green getting richer every day in this season. Lots of birds are
resting, singing, birthing, and recuperating there! What a blessings! As those
trees are growing, all those around are growing with them. What a blessings
too!
It reminds me the image of the trees planted by the riverbank in
the Bible that yield their fruits in each season and their leaves do not wither
but prosper (Psalm 1:3). It’s truly a blessed life! But why? I dare to say, “To
bless all those around!”
Actually, the Bible is full of those stories of blessings from the
beginning to the ending! How come? Let’s visit the creation story from Genesis.
As God created the heavens and the earth, He blessed them.
“Then God blessed them and said,
‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the
earth and govern it. Reign over the
fish in the sea, the birds in the sky,
and all the animals that scurry
along the ground’” (Genesis 1:28, NLT).
However, it was not all. God even blessed the seventh day, I mean
“the time”, after He created everything and rested. And He declared what he
blessed holy. And it does not end there. Later time at the end of the book of
Genesis, Jacob blessed Pharaoh, a foreign king, twice as he visited him. And
before he died, he also blessed all of his children, twelve of them.
Particularly, his blessing for Joseph was very impressive.
“Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall” (Genesis 49:23, NRSV).
Can we see the image of God in those stories? God blessed so he
blessed, I mean Jacob! Then what? “So we bless!”
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we look around, our life is
truly a series of blessing as the Bible describes. However, are we receiving
this fully when the blessing is knocking on our doors to fill our life
abundantly like the trees along the riverbank? Our Lord Jesus is right there to
bless us eternally right now in this season. Would you like to open your heart
and receive it?
Some years ago, Billy Graham prayed with people who wanted to
accept this blessing from God like this.
“Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for your
forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from
my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and
follow you as my Lord and Savior. In your Name, Amen.”
We truly want to respond to that firmly saying threefold amen,
“Amen, Amen, Amen!” Why? Because we want to bless others like Jacob, like
Joseph, like trees by the riverbank, and like Christ Jesus! So in this month of
June, we will experience the full blessings from God to bless others. Join us!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Kyochul
