"The Lord bless and keep you,
the Lord make his face smile upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26)
This ageless blessing was originally given by God through Moses to Aaron and his sons to bless the people in their care. And now, centuries later, we hear these words of peace, hope, and faith in benediction at church services of varying denominations.
It's a blessing that makes us feel very loved, very at peace, very centered.
What can we do, in return, for our brothers and sisters to show our gratitude for this eternal blessing? Christ gives us words to live by in Luke 6: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you" (36-38). Notice that even these words are words of blessings...it's not just a list of "don'ts" or "shouldn'ts". Rather, these words are gentle reminders that we are all fallible, yet we are all worth saving. Don't want to be judged? Don't judge. Should be easy, right? Yet we all are guilty of the continual pattern of judging, condemning, not forgiving, and not giving as we should. Yet, we are still given the blessing of God.
Seems like it's certainly worth the effort to work on that judging, condemning, not forgiving, and not giving enough business...it's kind of the least we can do, it seems.
But it's work--real work--to live our lives in this way.
It's enough to wear a person out at first...
When we start to feel a little weary about the whole idea of changing and trying to do better, our loving God sends us more encouragement to do well. "For the creation was subjected to frustration, not only by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Romans 8:20).
Liberated from bondage to decay...brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
What do we ever do to deserve all this love?
We have received the blessings of the ages from our God, through his beloved son. On this beautiful day, let's all work toward that "attitude of gratitude" by judging less, condemning less, forgiving and giving more. We have the "how to" directions and an endless pool of inspiration.
Peace be with you.
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