I Will Bless

2/19/2017

Numbers 6. 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

It sounds like there are two parts to this brief instruction: ‘they’ and ‘I’. They, the priests, specifically, Aaron and his sons, were to bless the people as commanded by God and spoken through Moses. God said, they will put My Name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

The role of pastor and priest is, partly, to bless God’s people. The way to bless God’s people is to put God’s Name on them. To say, God bless you, is a way to put God’s Name on another.

We want to bless others but the truest blessing of all is the blessing of God who knows our needs and meets them in ways we cannot think of.

Blessing is happiness. The word bless, means, happy. And God wants us happy. Now, I know there are those who would sternly, stare down the length of their meerschaum pipes and snort: God wants you holy, not happy! Well, true, He does, but if that is the case then why the blessing? Why demand holiness without happiness? Ah, well, perhaps happiness is found in holiness. Perhaps doing things God’s way, brings happiness our way.

Can you imagine the length God has to go to condescend to us? Our problem is our view of God and our incessant penchant to bring Him down to our level as He is trying to bring us up to His. God is so vastly beyond what the human mind can comprehend but that doesn’t mean knowing Him is sans benefits. One of the chief-est of bennies is this: happiness. God does desire us to be happy in holiness. He really just wants us to be happy in Him. If we are happy in Him, the holiness will take care of itself.

Happiness and holiness are states of mind anyway. Happiness and holiness are perceptions. It doesn’t mean they aren’t true, it just means that defining them is more difficult than just being them.

So, to put God’s Name on someone is one of the greatest things we can do for that person. It sounds like if that is a part of our routine, God’s part is to make them happy, blessed. “God bless you”, is no small phrase.

Part of why I am on earth is to both bless, and be a blessing to others. That is part of my calling as a human and as a child of God. I am to put God’s name on people. God wants to bless everybody and it appears He has gone way out of His way to do so. I think the heavenly host watches in marveled amazement of the blessing of God on humanity. God is a God of happiness – the happiness that is found only in Him.

The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen