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Lent Reflection 1: Blessed to Bless

Read: Genesis 12:1-3 

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Living overseas for many years, from time-to-time people would send us packages and there would be treats for our family. Often our older two children were very protective of what they received. They weren’t exactly selfish – if we asked them to share with the others, they would – but they were reluctant to share their bounty with someone else.

For our son Jonathan, it was different. Part of his joy in receiving the gift was sharing it with others. He’d go around and offer each of us a piece or a bite of whatever he’d received – without being told to share! He loved blessing others with the blessings he had.

God has a similar desire for us. He blesses us – not simply for our sake – but in part so we will turn around and bless others. Someone has said, “The gospel comes to us because it’s on its way to someone else.” The blessings we receive are intended to be passed on to bless others.

In Genesis, God makes promises that reveal his purposes in the world and for our lives as well. His promises show us what is important to him. His promises help us understand what he wants.

For example, in Genesis 1:27-28, God created Adam and Eve. We read that he made them in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Then he gave them the command to, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.

Even before sin had entered the world, God reveals his plan that the earth would be filled with men and women who would give him glory and honor and worship. He wants Adam and Eve to have lots of children who will fill the earth. He wants more and more worshipers to enjoy creation and to give him glory. He had a plan for his glory to cover all the earth.

Later, in the days of Noah, things became so sinful and wicked that God sends a flood and destroys humankind. He spares Noah and his family. After the flood, when Noah and his clan are back on dry ground, we read in Genesis 9:1: And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

It’s the same command God gave Adam and Eve. Fill the earth with people who will walk with me and worship me. God’s purpose had not changed!

Sadly, we know that, once again, the people don’t obey! We get to Genesis 11 and we discover that the people of the earth have one language and they are all settling in one place. We read in verse 4, 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

Instead of obeying God’s command to fill the earth with worshipers, they gather in one place and seek to make a name for themselves. They do not fill the earth and they do not seek God’s glory. They gather in one place and seek their own.

This time, in response, God doesn’t destroy humankind and start over again. Instead, he creates a people, a nation, that will be his missionary nation. His missionary family that he will use to reach the peoples of the earth.

God speaks to a man named Abram – later he will be called Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 above. In these three verses, God’s purpose is once again affirmed as he makes a promise to God in what we call “The Abrahamic Covenant.”

In verse 1 we see God’s command: Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” God commands Abram to leave his home and go to an unspecified location. Abram obeys God’s command.

In verses 2 and 3, we see God’s promise: 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse…

Abraham, I’m blessing you, but I’m doing it for a reason. I have a plan. I’m blessing you so that you will be a blessing. You will be a light and a conduit for my love and blessing. It doesn’t end with you. It won’t even end with your offspring. My promise reveals a bigger purpose.

In the second part of verse 3, God reveals to Abraham that his promise of blessing will lead to his purpose. God’s purpose: …in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Abraham, I’m blessing you so that one day all the nations of the world will be blessed. I’m blessing you so that through you and ultimately through your offspring, all the peoples and nations and language will be blessed.

By revealing his purpose in a promise, God shows that his mission is not based on us; it isn’t based on any one person or derailed by our sin; and it doesn’t depend on our strength or ability to carry it out. It is God’s purpose and God’s promise and it will not fail.

Later in Galatians and Romans, we will discover that the blessing God gives is justification by faith. Abraham believed God in Genesis 12 and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now, all who trust in Christ (Abraham’s offspring) and accept his work on the cross share in that blessing. The righteousness of Jesus becomes our righteousness. God blessed Abraham so we could be blessed.

We need to recognize that God wasn’t fulfilling his purpose and his promise through Abraham alone. It was through a family. It was through Abraham’s descendants. Ultimately, it comes through Jesus and when we have faith in him, through us to everyone else.

The gospel comes to us because it’s on its way to someone else. Like Abraham, we are blessed to be a blessing. We have been forgiven and made holy and called to take the love of God to all peoples.

Take time to reflect:

How has God blessed you?

What have you done with your blessings? Have you kept them for yourself? Wished there were more? Complained they weren’t like other people’s? Blessed others?

Ask God to show you ways to be a blessing to people around during Lent. Resolve to obey.

Ask God if there is a way you could be a blessing to the nations during Lent. What might that look like? Will you try?

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Ash Wednesday: The Sacrifices of God

Read: Psalm 51:1-17

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a rightspirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

When we lived in Knoxville, Tennessee, we had a huge hill in our backyard. Wisdom would have paid someone else to cut it, but I liked the challenge and the exercise.

I tried to keep my lines straight, but it was a large yard and often when I’d turn around to go back the other way I’d see how crooked and offline my attempt was. I discovered that if I picked a stationary point in the distance and kept my eyes focused on it, I’d end up with much straighter lines. If I picked a branch or something that moved or if I got distracted and lost focus even for a second, then I’d have a crooked line once again.

The Hill

Spiritually it can be a challenge to maintain our focus on Christ. It’s easy to get distracted or to lose focus for a bit and before we know it, we’ve wandered off the path we had intended to walk. Lent is a time when we take time to reflect. We take time to examine our lives and see where we’ve wandered so we can refocus and recalibrate and get back on track.

Many churches follow a common calendar that has Bible readings for each day of the year. The readings are divided so over a three-year period the entire Bible is covered, though some passages are read more than once. Psalm 51:1-17, for example, is a reading for Ash Wednesday every year because it is a great example of someone reflecting on his life; seeing where he had wandered from God’s path; and returning to the path through repentance and prayer.

For many people, Lent is all about sacrifice. “What are you giving up for Lent?” is the popular question. While willingly sacrificing something for Jesus during Lent can be an effective way of identifying with his sufferings, often it becomes an end, rather than a means.

The more important questions we need to ask ourselves are, “Where in my life have I wandered from God and gotten off the right path? What are the practices that will enable me to find my way back?” Lent is a season that focuses on drawing closer to God; seeking him with greater intention and intensity; and identifying the places in our life where we have wandered and need to repent.

In Psalm 51:6 David prays, 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. God knows us better than we know ourselves. It’s easy for us to deceive ourselves and think we are doing better spiritually than we really are. We need to bravely ask the Holy Spirit to show us the dark places in us; to reveal our true spiritual condition; to help us to discover where we have wandered. We then need to repent and thank God for the grace that allows us to return and start again.

While Lent can be a sobering time as we come face-to-face with our deceitful hearts and our sin, it’s also a hopeful season. We experience God’s steadfast love and his abundant grace and forgiveness. We look forward to the cross and the empty tomb and we recognize that there is power that allows us to pass from death to life. The resurrection power in Jesus is now working in us!

Take time to reflect:

Where are the places in your life that you feel distant from God?

What has distracted you from deepening in your relationship with him?

Take time to consider what you could “give up” or rearrange in your life during Lent in order to create more space for God and more opportunity to deepen in passion for him. Talk to God about it and commit to seeking him in that way.