The way to be blessed!

Reflecting on John 13:1-17

“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17)

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that God’s blessing rests on the ones on the bottom.
The poor, the grieving, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, the persecuted, etc.
All these have something in common: they are at the bottom in the ‘Empire’.
Our world operates by, or eagerly pursues imperium, Latin for command, control, or supreme power.
Many people, including many christians, want to pursue greatness, strength and success.

But this is not the way of blessing in God’s kingdom, according to Jesus.
If we want to experience God’s blessing, follow the ‘little way’.
Stay humble, be gracious and show compassion, like Jesus did.
This will not get us far in the Empire, but we will be blessed in the Kingdom.
This will not increase our greatness, but it will increase our goodness.

This is how God designed and blessed His ‘very good’ creation kingdom.
Imagine a world where everyone was humbly, graciously serving one another.
That is not the world we live in now, but it is how Jesus calls His followers to live.
Jesus modelled the ‘very good’ life of a child of God, so that we could do it too.
If we want to live in and with God’s blessing, this is how we will experience it!

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, help me to see the ways that I can serve and bless the people I meet today. Help me to seek to be a blessing more than being blessed.