THE YEAR OF DISTINGUISHABLE BLESSING - Abraham Sam Aiyedogbon

You must be aware, like I am, that the concept of divine blessing has being so much bastardized and subjected to lots of theological controversies. There is a school of thought contending that there is too much emphasis on being blessed in the Church. Such people are displeased that the Church has become 'A sort of bless me club'. However, people with keen and balanced spiritual insight have discovered that what many seekers and promoters of 'blessings' are desperate pursuing are transient in nature and self centered in motive.

Although most people have some vague ideas about the benefit and effects of some divine blessings, they are yet to actually comprehend the nature and the purpose of God's outstanding covenant blessings. A proper understanding of this will make it clear to everyone that divine blessings are desirable and needful for everyone. It doesn't necessarily start with, neither is it limited to mere financial or material acquisition. These are just part of the side effect of divine covenant blessings. No one can actually survive without some aspects and elements of God's blessing.

A close examination of the biblical account of creation shows mankind as the crowning glory of that divine project. There is no other creature given the degree of attention by all members of the Godhead as the case was with man. The likeness in which Man was made transcends all other creatures. He was made in the very image and likeness of God. The intention was for man to rule and reign over everything created. One of the most inspiring Psalms captured the disposition of God concerning Man in a very profound way. (Read Psalm 8:3-6) It is instructive that though man was made in the very image of God, God still saw the need for him to be blessed in order to fulfill his divinely allotted destiny.

"…Then God blessed them, and God said to them; "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." This scriptural truth indicates that God recognized that man, in his very best state, can never really function as He is meant to function (in order to fulfill the divine purpose for his life) without the impartation of divine blessing. This being the case, it will be fool hardy for anyone, in our current maladjusted state, to imagine that we can by ourselves be what we are meant to be, and accomplish what we are created to accomplish, without a constant flow of God's blessing.

Divine blessings in this context can be defined as the miraculous empowerment to function and fulfill destiny. It is far beyond the perennial tokens granted by providence for the mere sustenance of biological life on earth. There are such blessings which God unconditionally gives to all of humanity. The Lord Jesus affirmed this when He instructed His disciples saying "….Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."

On the other hand, there are exceptional and outstanding blessings from God that can make our lives distinguishable among billions of the earth inhabitants in a particular year. These were the types of blessings that marked the lives heroes of the faith like Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, and Israel as a nation. The Bible reveals that "….Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him."

The exceptional blessing pronounced on the lives of both Joseph and the nation of Israel made them outstanding in the comity of nations. Part of the invocation says "Blessed of the Lord is his land, With the precious things of heaven…and the deep lying beneath….With the best things of the ancient mountains, With the precious things of the everlasting hills, With the precious things of the earth and its fullness…Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers."

This is the type of blessing which made Jabez nobler than all his brethren, although the beginning of his life, and his initial identity in the family were all rooted in sorrow and misfortune. The LORD's promise to me and to everyone connected with me in one way or the other, not only in this New Year, but for the rest of our lives is that we shall recognized among nations as the generation which has being exceptional blessed by God. This is for us a year of remarkable and outstanding blessings that will make us distinguishable among all people. I have received a divine command to specially bless God's people in a way that will make the blessing irreversible, and I cannot do otherwise! Thus says the LORD "…Blessed are those who bless us, and cursed are those who curse us." May this be your portion this year and forever in Jesus' name, Amen.

(Published in Thisday of Sunday Jan. 2, 2010)

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