Rich Dixon reflects on our relationship to others.
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Lots of years ago as a brand-new Christian, I was invited to join a 2-year bible study that examined scripture in terms of overall, recurring themes.
One of the first lessons explored the Old Testament covenant between God and Abraham. God promised to bless Abraham and his offspring with a homeland, and to make his descendants a great nation. And through His chosen people, God would bless the entire world.
The study distilled this notion into a simple phrase: blessed to be a blessing.
In the graphic the bright light of God’s love shines on a single point, then is dispersed by the prism into the beautiful diversity of the rainbow.
Blessed to be a blessing recurred as a central theme of the study. The phrase, and the graphic, appeared frequently as a reminder of God’s promise and purpose.
Israel often missed the lesson. They remembered their status as God’s chosen people, but frequently forgot that they were picked for a purpose. They weren’t selected to bask in glory. They were adopted into a destiny of service.
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Honestly, I like the feeling of being blessed by God. When things are going well, I want to pretend God’s blessing shines on me like a spotlight and I’m the star of the show. The possessions, the good health, the nice family, the great job – I must have done something to deserve it, right? Am I the only one?
Scripture says we’re blessed to be a blessing, adopted into a destiny of service. We’re supposed to step out of the spotlight and hold up the prism. Those blessings are an opportunity to reflect God’s light into a world filled with darkness.
Whenever I’m tempted to feel a little special, I need to remember it isn’t a spotlight.
Blessed…to be a blessing.
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300 words a day 