Are you feeling blessed? God is just waiting, longing, even, to pour out His blessing upon His children. Many blessings He just pours out on us freely, out of His great love for us. The blessing of our salvation is that kind of blessing: we did nothing to get it, we did not earn it or deserve it, He just gave it to us out of His great love and grace.
However, many of His blessings after our salvation require an act of obedience on our part in order to fully receive them. The Bible is full of such examples; I call them the "If, Then, Buts". IF His people will do thus, THEN He will give them the blessing; BUT.... if they will not, then there are consequences. Often they missed the blessing completely because of their lack of obedience.
I think of His blessings like party gifts, all wrapped up in beautiful papers with great big bows on top, and a loving Father who is just waiting to give them to us. I often think we will be surprised and also saddened when we get to heaven and realize all the presents we missed out on, because of our failure to listen to the Lord and obey His words.
So how do we get all the blessings that God so lovingly wants to give us? These verses give us some great instruction: First, separate yourself from ungodliness around you. Don't walk with and heed the advice of ungodly people. They will always lead you astray, never will they ever draw you closer to God or help you in your faith walk. That isn't always easy, it can almost impossible if it is our loved ones who are ungodly. This isn't telling us to leave them or turn our backs on them, but not to walk with them, not to do as they do, not to listen to them when they want us to join them in their ungodliness.
God's Word is the greatest weapon we have, and provides us the way to know Him and to know His will for us. Day and night, every day, we must delight in the law of the Lord, and meditate on it , thinking about how it applies in our circumstances. Settle it in your heart and mind once and for all that God's way is always right, always best, and is always going to be for our good and His glory! Keeping His word in our minds will help us in the face of temptations; without that, we are going to stumble and fall.
His word helps us understand that God uses our difficult circumstances to mold us and shape us, and gives us the strength and courage to get through whatever difficulty we may be faced with.
We cannot do this in our own strength, because the flesh is weak, even though the spirit may be willing. But by meditating on His word constantly, hiding it in our hearts so that we won't sin against Him, we will be like trees planted by the water; whose roots run deep and
do not wither up and die. Our efforts will be rewarded, and we will bear much fruit in due season. Our blessings are already prepared and waiting for us.
The only question is: are we willing to do our part to receive them?
