Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Why does God bless you?

[Laban said to Jacob], “The Lord has blessed me because of you.” Genesis 30v27

Do you ever feel that you have moved out of God’s blessing? If so, this verse from the Bible Reading chat for today is here to encourage us!

Here are a few key elements of how God works in the life of Jacob:

  • God chooses Jacob before he was born, and that ultimately defines his life.
  • God continually shows grace towards Jacob despite his envy, deceit and greed.
  • Jacob many schemes for his own advantage all end up worthless as he leaves home with nothing but fear, yet God provides for him.
  • God chooses to meet with Jacob on a few very dynamic occasions, and as he does so Jacob’s character and commitment to God gradually changes.

In this chapter 30, Jacob had been staying with his uncle Laban for 14 years while working in exchange for his wives. This was a way of paying a dowry when Jacob had nothing of his own. But, for all Jacob’s failings, God was enabling a remarkable fruitfulness through Jacob and Laban could see it and he benefitted from it.

How does this carry through to us as New Testament people? Well, in some ways, Jesus is like a Jacob, but without all the faults. As Jacob had 12 sons, multiplying into the Old Testament tribes of Israel, so Jesus has 12 apostles multiplying in the New Testament church of God. And so, as Laban was blessed because of Jacob’s presence, we are right now blessed as we abide in Christ and He in us. Christ is the Jacob without all the faults. Hence Paul writes in Ephesians 1, “God … has blessed us … with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

Yes, God blesses you and me because of Jesus! The blessing of God on your life does not depend on you. It depends on Jesus and your ongoing connection with him. As long as Jacob was with Laban, Laban saw abundant fruitfulness. As long as you are connected to Jesus, you will see abundant spiritual blessing. Paul lists some of these blessings in Ephesians 1 – whereas for Laban it was lots of healthy sheep and goats, for us God blesses us with holiness, love, knowing God as Father, forgiveness of sin, knowing God’s ultimate purpose and being filled with the Holy Spirit.

May you be able to rest confident today that God’s blessing on you relies on you being in Jesus, not on anything else.

With love and blessing,

Roland