Webster's dictionary defines a blessing as the following: 1)the act or words of one that blesses, 2)a thing conducive to happiness or welfare, 3)grace said at a meal.
Just merely looking at Webster's dictionary for the definition of blessing, doesn't really go deep enough so we need to look at the definition of "bless". Again, going to Webster's dictionary, we see the word "bless" defined a little better. There are multiple definitions but we start to see a little better picture of what it means to "bless" if we take a couple of these definitions and then go to the Bible to dig deeper.
One definition of the word "bless" means to praise, glorify, speak well of or approve. Another definition is to confer prosperity or happiness upon.
I have not done an exhaustive search or study on the word "bless" nor have I looked at the Hebrew or Greek origins, but a quick look in the concordance in the back of my Bible shows me that the word "bless" first appears in Genesis 2:3, and God is the one doing the blessing, this is important as it originates with Him.
The context of this verse is just after the days of creation, where God has just finished resting on day 7. "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." Genesis 2:3, NASB.
This is important because not only is God showing favor, conferring happiness on what He has just created, and is pleased, but He is sealing it as only He can. So when we hear that God is blessing us or we want to bless someone, I think we are sealing something in a way that is only as God can do. As a result, when we are blessing someone or verbally telling someone that we bless them, we should mean it and realizing the weight that comes with a Godly Blessing.
The second time I can find the word "bless" used is in Genesis 12:2. Here God is administering the call to Abram, later called Abraham. God says, "...and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12:2-3, NASB.
Wow, these two verses need a lot of unpacking, more than I will get into here, but on the surface we can see that God is bestowing favor on Abram for being obedient to the call, sealing again, his calling to ministry, and doing something that only God can do.
Finally we see the word "bless" being used in a form of worship. Genesis 14:20 says "...and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." The context here is after God has delivered Lot by Abram. Melchizedek (king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, Genesis 14:18) is blessing Abram and acknowledging and worshipping God for what He has done and worshipping God because they are acknowledging God's greatness and power in delivering Lot back to Abram. As a side note, a study of Melchizekek is very interesting as he is a historical person, king of Jerusalem (Psalm 76:2) who typified Christ (Psalm 110:4). Another study for another day....stay tuned...
Back to blessing..... So we've seen that a blessing, being blessed and to bless is a Godly seal and something that can only be truly done if God is involved. So when we bless God as part of our worship or vocabulary, when we sing that we are blessing the Lord, we are sealing our favor back to God, we are telling Him that we are grateful for all He has conferred upon us and we know it comes from Him.
As a final thought, to bless is not just to make someone happy or to give thanks, but to do so with God's involvement, We are invoking His power, His love and seek to give worship back to Him knowing and recognizing that without Him, we are lost, with Him, all things are possible.
So as you think about this devotion, I pray that you will be Blessed with God's intimacy in your relationship with Him, knowing that the walk He wants to take with you is sealed with His approval, His blessing and His best plans for you.
Until next time....
Tim
