Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee; And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1-3
The blessing of Abraham was no more a blessing upon Abraham than it was a blessing upon millions and millions of others. Notice that God said to Abraham, “Thou shalt be a blessing” and “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” If after the famous promise of God to Abraham was given, Abraham had been blessed but never become a blessing to others, then his blessing would have always remained incomplete. If the only family on earth that received a blessing through Abraham was his own physical descendants, the Jews, and not “all the families of the earth”, then the blessing would have come short of God’s purpose. God has a reason for blessing you, and His reason is bigger than you are.
When God blesses you who are the children of Abraham by faith, the same principle applies. If that blessing is not passed on to others, if you are the only one who benefits from that blessing, then someone has missed the mark. Your blessing has been stopped short of its goal. If when God blesses you, you are the only one who benefits from that blessing, that blessing lies incomplete; something has corrupted the perfect gift of God.
When you are loved, that love dies fruitless if it lies only within your breast. If you receive mercy, that mercy withers on the vine if it is not passed on to another who has failed. If you are anointed with a gift, that anointing turns bitter unless others are profited by the use of that gift. Every blessing that God has ever given is alive, but if it abides alone, if it is not sown into the heart of another, it will dry up and die in the bosom of the one to whom it is given. No gift from God was ever intended solely for the blessing of the one who first received it.
Have you been blessed? That’s a good start. But now answer this question: Have others been blessed through you, by that blessing you have received from God? If not, your blessing is in danger of dying. Pass it on, so that your blessing, and you, may live.