Being a Channel of blessing!

Last Sunday I heard this story in the church! Long ago in England, long before the dawn of electricity and motor cars, a doctor was summoned in the night to a home to treat a sick man. The doctor started in a horse-drawn buggy but could not see the road because of a snow storm. However, the people of the hamlet guided the doctor from the doctor's home to the sick man's house by hanging a lantern at their doorstep so that the doctor could follow the lights and reach the sick man! Each person's light pointed the doctor in the right direction, and following the lights, the doctor reached his destination without being lost in the intimidating weather. Everyone that day became the channel of blessing to the sick man that day!

God promised Abraham that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him (Gen 12:3). Jacob served Laban for twenty years, and many things had happened in those twenty years. Jacob had married Laban's two daughters and had many sons. The flock that was tended by Rachel single-handedly had multiplied many times. When Jacob wanted Laban to send him away (Genesis 30:25-33) we see Laban openly confessing saying, "… I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake." So, Laban was willing to negotiate Jacob's wages again to make him stay! Later in Genesis we read that, the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and the field (Gen 39:5).

Under the New Covenant, the Covenant of Grace, we are the descendants of Abraham. As a redeemed community, as people empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are called to be a transforming influence not only to our families but also to the society we live. The Bible says that faith without works is dead (James 2:20). Then reflecting the character of Jesus Christ in our everyday life must become our priority. Every believer should faithfully witness to the love, truth, and power of the gospel that frees people from sin and slavery to sin. Jesus said we are the light of this world (Matthew 5:14).

My friend, the people around us, must see us as a blessing to them, not as a curse. Only then we can say that we are living as the true inheritors of the New Covenant!

Categories: Weekly DevotionalsAuthor: Hephzibah StephenDate: 13th August 2019 Share: newsletterDisplay date: 14th August 2019

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