#590 - Double Blessing; Day 5

Playing the Long Game

For our final day together exploring God’s blessings, I want to share where I believe being a bigger blessing starts: clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and caring for the sick.

Every statistic about people living below the poverty line or experiencing homelessness reveals how much our cities are hurting below the surface. Every number has a name, every name has a story, and every story matters to God. You can add other metrics to the mix, such as mental health. And you can fill in the blank based on where you live. But no matter how you slice it, we live in a fallen world surrounded by hurting people. The good news? God’s kingdom is coming, and we are the conduits of His blessing.

Seeking the health of your city and caring for the poor and hungry may sound daunting, but it is really just another invitation from God to bless others and receive His blessing in return. Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40, NIV). That’s the heart of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. It’s the way we play the long game, the giving game!

Show me the size of your dream, and I’ll show you the size of your God. So what are you believing God for? Of course, no matter how big your dream is, God is bigger still! James, the brother of Jesus, reminds us, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2, NIV) Jesus’s words up the ante: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7, NIV).

Blessing is yours for the asking, but the only way to keep it is to give it away.

In the words of the martyred missionary Jim Elliot, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

So who will you bless today? How will you bless them?