What does it mean to be blessed or to live a blessed life?

I was pondering that myself the other day after reading a section of scripture in John 13. Verses 16 and 17 say the following:

I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (NIV, emphasis mine).

Jesus had just finished washing His disciples’ feet as a demonstration to them of how they should serve others, when He finished up with the statement that “you will be blessed if you do them.”

I stopped on the word blessed and considered it. I’ve always thought blessed to mean something good bestowed on me by God. But I was intrigued to look at the meaning in more depth.

The first two definitions in my Webster’s New World College Dictionary tell me that blessed means “1. holy, sacred; consecrated; 2. enjoying great happiness; blissful;” That seems about on par with what I’ve always thought.

But to truly understand the meaning, it makes the most sense to explore the Greek word  for blessing that is used in verse 17, which is makarios, so that’s what I did.

I wasn’t disappointed at what I found. 

My Keyword Study Bible explained the nuances of the word in this description:

“Biblically, one is pronounced blessed when God is present and involved in his life. The hand of God is at work directing all his affairs for a divine purpose, and thus, in a sense, such a person lives coram Deo, before the face of God.” The definition went on to state that blessedness also means sharing in the life of God and participating in the kingdom, and it includes all of these things: forgiveness, freedom of conscience, the Second Coming, the Holy Spirit, heavenly rest, and moral and spiritual purity. Even in suffering and pain, we can still be blessed because God’s purpose is behind it, ensuring that God will bring good out of it for us and glory to him.1

That’s a lot of meaning to meditate on from one small word.

Of all the insights the Greek word gives us, I have to say I’m both entranced by and scared by coram Deo, or living before the face of God. That implies so many things. To live before God’s face is a close, intimate relationship. It is comforting to know that God is right there living life with me each and every day. He’s there to guide me, love me, grow me, and comfort me.

It also means that I’d better ditch any thoughts I may have about just skating by on certain issues, actions, or attitudes. I’ve always understood that God knows everything about me, but when I ponder coram Deo, it attaches a whole new weight of intentionality to my life. I’m truly living before the face of God, so I want to do it right.

What does that look like for me?

Well, an initial thought concerns being more purposeful in how I spend my time. Are the things I’m reading, saying, spending my money on, exerting my energy on, dreaming about, and planning for — are these things, things that I feel good about living coram Deo? Do many of them benefit or serve others, like the example Jesus set for us, or are they only for my own good?

It’s a question I need to answer.

Before the face of God. It changes everything.

¹ Zodhiates, Spiros, Th.D. Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, NIV. Chatanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1996.

Fish and Loaves Faith

“Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barely loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6:8

Read John 6:1-15

Miracle Story

Of all the miracle stories in the Bible, this is one of my favorites–for many reasons. First of all, I love the fact that the lunch of five small barley loaves and two small fish belonged to a child.

Understand, the Bible leaves some of the details of this exchange to our imaginations, so I don’t know that this is exactly how the story unfolded, but I imagine it playing out in the following way:

The Bible tells us that Jesus asks Philip where they should go to buy bread for the five thousand people to eat. Philip replies that eight months of salary wouldn’t be nearly enough to feed the crowd of people.

Here is where things get interesting. I think that perhaps a young boy who is sitting close to where Jesus is teaching hears the conversation between Jesus and his friends and eagerly offers his lunch that his mom packed for him that morning. It would be just like a child not to see the futility of his meager lunch feeding such a crowd, but to instead faithfully hand over his bread and fish to Andrew to give to Jesus. And it would be just the typical adult thing to then bring it to Jesus—with the caveat of “but how far will they go among so many?”

Spark of Faith

Jesus was just waiting for that spark of faith. He takes the lunch, has everyone sit down, gives thanks for the fish and bread, and passes it around–and everyone took as much as they wanted (v. 11). After they had all eaten, Jesus wants nothing wasted, so the disciples gather up 12 baskets of leftovers!

Doesn’t it seem that we could learn a lot about faith from children? In most cases, their minds have not yet been clouded by the harsh realities of life. It’s not hard for them to believe in the improbable, or the impossible.Their eyes can easily see the thin space between the reality of this world and the unseen heavenlies where angels, miracles, and God all live. Jesus took the little boy’s lunch and multiplied it into a buffet for 5000.

That’s the kind of faith that Jesus is watching for, that we need to cultivate. A faith that causes us to unflinchingly step forward and offer up our bread and fish to Jesus to multiply beyond our wildest expectations.

When we feel that nudge of the Spirit to take our offering to God, we need to stamp out the adult voice that rises up with a “But, …” and just give it. Or just do it.

What does this look like in our lives?

• The nudge to give that $20 to a charity, even though it’s just a drop in the bucket of what’s needed.
• The nudge to teach a Bible class, even though you’re not a “real” teacher.
• The nudge to keep praying for your wayward child, even though you haven’t seen any change in three years.
• The nudge to start a Moms-In-Touch prayer group at your child’s school, even though you’ve never led anything in the past.

A vibrant faith requires that I present to God what I have. Jesus is waiting for people with a fish-and-loaves faith to take Him up on His promises so He can to equip us (2 Timothy 3:17) and set us loose in His kingdom. The results are up to Him.

What do you have to offer Him today? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Fish-and-Loaves Faith is the second post in our  faith series. Please leave a comment below on your thoughts, feelings, or experiences in growing your faith.

Image courtesy of [FrameAngel] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net