I believe that blessings are much more important than we realize as a church and society. The words we speak--whether blessings or other--can make the difference in our life and the lives of those around us. In the Old Testament book of Genesis there is a story that illustrates this very clearly. In chapter 27 we find the story of Jacob taking the "blessing" that had been reserved for his older brother Esau. Isaac, their father, planned to give the "blessing" to Esau. Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau loved Jacob more and plotted with Jacob to trick Isaac into giving the "blessing" to Jacob rather than Esau. It is interesting that all this scheming took place over a few sentences spoken by Isaac. I think many people in our society might say, "why all the fuss." Let me explain a little further.

All of this fuss is over the words spoken in the two verses--28 and 29. In these verses Isaac says "May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness--an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be Lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed." This is a very nice prayer but is this worth all of the fuss. The answer is...yes. Now, I know Jacob received this through trickery and I am not saying he was right in doing that. My point is that the "blessing" is more than mere words. Let me show you what I mean. The response of Esau is the key. When he finds out that Jacob has stolen his "blessing" he says to his father, "Haven't you reserved any blessing for me?" Isaac responds, "I have made him Lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new win. So what can I possitly do for you, my son?" To Isaac, the words that he spoke were more than words they were fact. He knew they would come true. They were substance.

God has given us power in our words also. We, as a society and as Christians in this society, need to learn this truth: the words we speak are more than words they are fact. We must learn to speak words of blessing into the lives of others: friends, neighbors, "our" churches and "their" churches, our nation and it's leaders, and our world. Begin today to speak blessings into the lives of everyone you see and you will know the blessings of God in your life and you will see the blessings of God in their lives.