Devotional: Bless me, my father!
Esther So (USA)
This is the cry of Esau after he realized his brother Jacob had stolen the first born blessing from their father Isaac (Genesis 27:34). Jacob understands the importance of blessing and envies Esau being the first born who traditionally will receive a larger portion of the family inheritance and the father’s blessing. He， we may say， tricked Esau， traded a lentil stew for the first born privileges and later cheated his father for the blessing intended for Esau.
When Jacob was done wrestling with the ‘man’， he refused to let the ‘man’ go without blessing him， as he recognized the significance of “the words of blessings” (Genesis 32:26). In spite of Jacob‟s cunning character， we do not fully understand why God chose Jacob to become the father of Israel (Genesis 32:28) and blessed him tremendously.
Throughout the Bible， the word bless， blessing or blessed can be seen from the beginning to the end (The word ‘bless’ was mentioned at least 389 times). Since it is such a common word， we may sometimes tend to overlook its importance. The Bible mentioned God’s blessings to his children， both physical and spiritual， proclaimed directly to individuals or through prophets and priests.
God instructed the Israelites specifically how He can bless them. He told Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you， and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). God told the Israelites through Moses， “All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 28:2).
Jesus promised that: Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me” (Luke 7:23). “And he took the children in his arms， placed his hands on them and blessed them” (Mark 10:16). “While he was blessing them， he left them and was taken up into heaven” (Luke 24:51).
Paul wrote about it， saying， “And God is able to bless you abundantly， so that in all things at all times， having all that you need， you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
As parents， we pray and hope that our children will do well in their lives and we want to bless them through our teachings， life experiences， financial， material things and so forth， trying to provide as much as we possibly could so that our children can have a better life and most important of all， we really want God’s blessings be upon them throughout their lives.
My friend’s daughter asked for his parents blessings before she left home for a job far away from home， and another asked the same when he was getting married. These children learned， have understood and asked for it. Surely they will be blessed because they know they need it and believe God will bless them according to His will.
We may not realize the importance of blessings until we understand a little more about the heart of God， how He wants us to live a life according to His will and He delights in blessing us. We are so thankful and so grateful that God is constantly showering us with His abundant loving blessings! He will bless those who fear the LORD- small and great alike (Psalms 115:13).
