BE A BLESSING

Be a Blessing.

'Get thee out .of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee; and be thou a blessing.'—Gen. xii. 1, 2.

IN these first words that God spake to Abraham, we have the short summary of all that God has to say to him and to us as His children. We see what the goal is to which God calls us, what the power that carries us to that goal, and what the place where the power is found.

Be a blessing: that is the goal for which God separates Abraham and every believing child of His.

God would have him and us made to understand that, when he blesses us, this is certainly not simply to make us happy, but that we should >Matt. T. 34. still further communicate His blessing.ⁱ God

S6, X. 8. *vtiL . °

**- Himself is love, and therefore He blesses. Love

seeketh not itself: when the love of God comes ■iml jwa_ml to us, it will seek others through us.² The

iili Cor. xilL' o

fi^{i ,olm} young Christian must from the beginning understand that he has received grace with the definite aim of becoming a blessing to others. Pray, keep not for yourself what the Lord gives to you for others. Offer yourself expressly and completely to the Lord, to be used by Him for others: that is the way to be blessed overflowingly yourself.ⁱ ^."S.**: The power for this work will be given. 'Be «oj

^L ° 68; 2 Cor. Ix.

a blessing': 'I will bless thee,' says the Lord. ^l«

You are to be personally blessed yourself,

personally sanctified and filled with the Spirit,

and peace, and power of the Lord: then you

have power to bless.² In Christ God has» Luke xjdr.

^r 49; John yiL

'blessed us with all spiritual things': let Jesus * "^tv-^a

fill you with these blessings, and you shall

certainly be a blessing: you need not doubt or

fear. The blessing of God includes in it the

power of life for multiplication, for expansion,

for communication. See in the Scriptures how

blessing and multiplication go together.⁸ Bless

ing always includes the power to bless others. ^XX,1M

Only give the word of the Almighty God, 'I

will bless Thee,' time to sink into your spirit.

Wait upon God, that He Himself may say to

you, 'I will bless thee.' Let your faith cleave

fast to this. God will make it truth to you,

above all asking and thinking4 u^i.fsi

But for this end you must also betake your- ^ self to the place of blessing: the land of promise, the simple life of faith in the promises. 'Get thee out thy land and thy father's house,' say3

the Lord. Departure, separation from the life of nature and the flesh, in which we were born of our father Adam, is what God would have. The offering up of what is most precious to man is ^Luto> rrtu. the way to the blessing of God.ⁱ 'Get thee to a CM.naia² land that I will show thee,' says the Lord, out of the old life to a new life, where I alone am your guide; that is, a life where God can have me wholly for Himself alone, where I walk only on the promises of God—a life of faith.

Christian, God will in a Divine fashion fulfil to you His promise, 'I will bless thee.' O go, pray, out of your land and your father's house, out of the life of nature and the flesh, out of intercourse with the flesh and this world, to the New Life, the life of the Spirit, the life in fellowship with God to which He will lead you. There you become receptive of His blessiug; there your heart becomes open to full faith in His word, 'I will bless thee'; there He can fulfil that word to you, and make you full of His blessing and power to be a blessing to others. Live with God, separated from the world: then shall you hear the voice of God speak with power: 'I will bless thee'; 'Be thou a blessing.'

O my Father, show me the way to that promised land where Thou bringest Thy people to have them wholly for Thyself. I will abandon everything to follow Thee, to hold converse with Thee alone, in order that Thou mayest fill me with Thy blessing. Lord, let Thy word,^f I will bless thee/ live in my heart as a word of God: then shall I give myself wholly to live for others and to be a blessing. Amen.

1. God is the great, the only Fountain of blessing : as much of God as l haoe in me, so much blessing can l bring. l can work much for others without blessing. Actually to be a blessing, l must begin with that word, 'I will bless thee': then the other, 'Be a blessing ' becomes easy.

2. in order to become a blessing, begin on a small scale: yield yourself up for others. Lioe to make others happy. Belieoe that the looe of God dwells in you by the Spirit, and gioe yourself wholly to be a blessing and a joy to those who are round about you. Pray God to shed abroad His looe in you still further by the Spirit. And belieoe oery firmly that God can make you a greater blessing than you can think, if you surrender yourself to Him for this end.

8. But this surrender must haoe time in solitary prayer, that God may obtain possession of your spirit. This is for you the departure from your father's house: separate yourself from men that God may speak with you.

4. What think you? Was Abraham eoer filled with regret that he placed himself so entirely under the leading of God? Then do you likewise.

6. Do you now know the two words which are the source of all promises and all commands to the children of belieoing Abraham? The promise is: 'l will bless thee.' The command is: 'Be a blessing.' Pray, take them both firmly for yourself.

6. And do you now understand where these two words to Abraham are fulfilled? in separation from his father's house—in the walk in fellowship with God.