Bless for the Right Reason

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I believe the passing on of a blessing is the right thing to do. It is a part of an overall commitment to communicate God’s ways. Its spirit is found throughout Scripture, even between friends, even though it is not something which can be dissected, outlined and reduced to a set of one-size-fits-all steps.

Now, having said that, there is a caution to be understood. A blessing of this character must be done because it is a right thing to do and not as a means of manipulation. Young people with adults, like adults with salesmen, are suspicious; and young people with adults, like husbands and wives with each other, can resent efforts to change them. This moment must be a no-strings-attached moment for God to use as He sees fit. It is not something to hold over a person’s head with the typical “do you remember what I told you…”

Along the same line, it is not something to be done to put God in your debt. “I blessed my son, God; now make him shape up.” The moment we think something we have done obligates God to fulfill our agenda, be it ever so good, we enter the Twilight Zone of self-righteousness. 

I have a list of several young men who are not where I would have envisioned. I pray for them. I am sad. But, I do not see either them or God as having let me down. It is not about me. As for God, He may not be finished with them yet. He blessed Jacob twice: first when he was a scoundrel; second after a miserable fourteen years of unpleasant consequences of his scoundrelhood. The Blessing Place is not a place to own someone. It is a place to give them a memory of good words from a man who loved them. Period. 

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