Blessed for a reason

In Genesis 12 we read the story of how God calls Abram (who later is renamed Abraham), and blesses him. This blessing is sometimes referred to as an "instrumental" blessing - it is a blessing to Abram, so that through him other people will be blessed. Later in the story, after Abraham is willing to sacrifice Isaac, God again says that through the blessing of offspring for Abraham, all nations on earth will be blessed. And when Abraham's grandson Jacob has a dream of a stairway to heaven, God blesses him and says that all peoples of the earth will be blessed through Jacob and his offspring.

Christians have understood these passages to refer to Jesus, who is a descendant of these Patriarchs, and through whom all people are blessed. But it's also useful to consider why God would give an instrumental blessing like this. What does it say to Abram, or to Jacob, that not only will they be blessed, but that they will also be a blessing?

Firstly, the instrumental blessing gives an insight into God's bigger plan. It says "I am blessing you, I am giving you good things, I am here with you, I'm on your side," but it also says "I'm not blessing you alone. You don't get this blessing just because I like you better than everyone else. You get this blessing as part of my plan for everyone."

Secondly, with this blessing comes responsibility. God doesn't bless Abraham in a way that lets him think "Great, God has given me good things, now I'll sit back and enjoy them." God shows Abraham that there's a plan, and through His blessing, God invites him to be part of it. God calls those he blesses to join with Him in His plan for the world.

The blessing is useful. It's intended to be used. It's not something to be put aside and admired, or proudly shown off to visitors. It's there to make a difference. It's like giving a spade as a present to a friend who has just got a garden. If they are really grateful, and promise they'll put it in a display cabinet and make sure it never gets dirty, you'd feel they've missed the point. Giving your friend a spade was part of a bigger plan for them to be able to dig the garden. Simply giving the gift wasn't the end of it. In the same way, when God blesses Abram/Abraham and Jacob, he makes it clear that they are being blessed as part of a bigger plan. It's not a stand-alone blessing.

God blesses all of us, with many things. Our personality, our skills, our possessions are all instrumental blessings. They are intended to be used. Acknowledging that what we have comes from God also means recognising that we're invited to become part of His plan. Not using what we've been given is missing the point. Of course, we need to pray and to talk with others about how we use our gifts: you wouldn't expect your friend with the spade to go outside and just start digging at random. But if we've got a gift, a talent, an attribute, and we're not using it for God, then we've forgotten that just like Abraham, we're blessed for a reason.