“Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” (Ps.32:1-2). “Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.” (Rom.4:7-8)
Heavenly Father, these remarkable affirmations from your Word underscore how the concept of “blessing” has been taken hostage to the lust for creature comforts, “affluenza,” and pain-free living. But like everything else, you alone have the right to define what “blessedness” is and you’ve done so through the words of a broken king (David, Ps.32:1-2) and a humbled Pharisee, (Paul, Rom.4:7-8)
By your definition of “blessed,” everybody that knows Jesus is a gazillionaire, For you have forgiven all our sins, declared us righteous in Christ, hidden our lives in Jesus, and have given us citizenship in heaven. No condemnation—just your delight is the air we breathe and the bed in which we sleep. You love us with a perfect love that expels our very imperfect fears. Hallelujah and thank you.
So whether… I live in a penthouse or an outhouse. Drive an electric car or pedal a rusting bike. Feast on caviar or munch on stale Fritos. Have a trust fund or have to trust you for daily bread. Wear “haute couture” from Paris or hand-me-downs from the Gap. I am a blessed man—a truly blessed man.
May the good news—the Gospel of your grace always be my currency of choice, the treasure I most treasure, the bullion I boast in, the ring I call “my precious,” the legal tender and stock portfolio I’m most zealous to relish, rest in, and spend for the blessing of others.
Father turn our fears into faith, our whining into worship, our pouting into praise, and our selfishness into selfless living and missional loving. Life is too short to live “stupid,” for the only man you call “fool” in the New Testament thought only in terms of bigger barns—not a big Gospel and a bigger heart (Luke 12:13-21). So Very Amen.
