There is more to life then we could ever dare imagine. So many of us are stuck in the daily grind that our greatest goal for ourselves is just to make it to the end of the day. Our motivation becomes supper and relaxing in front of the television or computer screen, to lose ourselves in some fantasy world. We want to escape from a life we do not understand and do not want to face because we fail to see what remains hidden to us. There is so much more than the daily grind. There is so much more than the things we are facing. There is so much more than what we are seeing right now, and the incredible thing is, our Father wants you to see and to experience the "more" he has given us. To release the "more" should be our goal today.
The interesting thing about the Kingdom is that it works in paradoxes to our thinking and our way of doing things. If you listen to Jesus' teachings you see these everywhere; if you try to save your life you will lose it; if you lose your life you will gain it; the first will be last and the last first; the least is the greatest; if you want to lead you must serve. One of the hardest for people to understand and live is, we have to give in order to receive. This requires a great deal of faith. Some of you have automatically started thinking of money but I am talking about love, forgiveness, mercy and encouragement. You can't be blessed unless you know how to bless.
In this morning's reading from the Word we find we are still looking at Jesus' instruction to the 12 disciples as he sends them out on their first training mission. He gives them these instructions:
Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. (Matthew 10:11-13)
I take us back to my opening comment: there is more to life than we could ever dare imagine. We are a people of blessing because our Father is a Father of blessing. We fail to understand the power of the words we release, but lack of understanding does not strip them of their power. Our days are dull and dreary because we fail to understand our place of blessing. In this case Jesus is specifically instructing his disciples on blessing the home that takes them in but in other places in the Word we can see the role of blessing people in general. It may be peace as is spoken of here, but it can also be the blessing of encouragement, of health, of finances, of love, of forgiveness, of friendship, of any number of things that the Father wants to speak through you into the lives of others. We may not understand what is being released in their lives as we bless them but we don't need to know. Soon enough our workplace will change, our neighbours home will change, our school will change, that hospital room will change, because wherever we are, that's where the party is.
We are a blessed people because we are a people of blessing. If we are not blessed it is because we are failing to give blessings. We cannot receive if we are not giving out. The more we give out the more the Father pours into our lives. This is why earlier Jesus told his disciples, "Freely you have received, freely give". It is the very nature of the Kingdom. However, if we are selfish and try to bless ourselves we will slip into a dark and cold place in our lives. If we fail to see the hidden things, the costly things, the joyous things of life, we will be stuck in Dullsville.
Some of us have mistakenly thought it was our place to curse, to call down the fires of heaven upon those who reject our curse us. Two brothers thought the same thing and Jesus rebuked them by telling them that he had not come to destroy but to save. Life is too short and too costly to keep a tally of the offenses in your life. The list of unforgiveness you tuck away would be too long and too heavy to carry. If you truly want to experience life in the technicolour our Father has reserved for us you need to let go and be a person of blessing. As you speak blessing into people's lives you too will be freed from what has shackled you and our Father will be pleased with you. I am not saying your life will suddenly be filled with butterflies and daffodils, but it will be filled with brilliant colour and purpose.
There is so much more to life than what we imagine. Let's not allow the hidden things to remain hidden. Let's not stay stuck in Dullsville. Let's not waste another day of lack of blessing. Let's jump into this day head first and be determined to speak our Father's blessings into the lives of every single person we encounter today. Let's release the "more" in life. Start with the blessings of joy and encouragement and see where that gets you.
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