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“God
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places through Christ."
~ Ephesians 1:3
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Different
Blessings
In
an old Frank & Ernest cartoon, Frank tells the parson, "I'm
tired of blessings in disguise. If it's all the same to you, I want one
I can recognize immediately."
We've
probably all felt that way.
When
we lose a job or take a pay-cut, we don't need spiritual blessings; we need
financial answers.
When
the test-results come back and we have a malignant growth, we don't
want lofty spiritual thoughts; we want our health back.
When
we see our spouse at the end of each day and they're as cold as ice or
as fiery as hell itself, we don't want theologizing; we'd be grateful
for a flicker of peace and calm, or tenderness.
Spiritual
blessings -- such as those Paul describes to the Ephesians -- sound
fascinating but we generally want something practical; something to
help our bank accounts, our bodies, or our relationships.
Of
course, when the wheels get loose on our wagon, we might pursue
spiritual blessings, but usually with the hope to convert them
into material ones.
Yet,
the apostle Paul declares that the Lord has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing. And he considers these definitive and
life-grounding. They matter more than any other; more than food,
shelter, health, or wealth.
Our
constant focus on material blessings ("God has blessed me with a
spouse and children and a home and a job and food and finances,
etc") betrays our inattention to the deeper, richer, more
sustaining spiritual blessings.
Our
spiritual ups-and-downs will only subside when we finally embrace these
"spiritual blessings" as the foundation for our lives. These
blessings include terms like "chosen, holy, blameless, adopted,
redeemed, forgiven, graced, and loved." (See Ephesians 1:3-8) Nothing matters
as much.
One
of the great deficiencies in the walk of faith for many of us is our
blindness to these blessings -- the spiritual blessings -- and our
preoccupation with material well-being.
"Every
spiritual blessing" belongs to us -- everything we need most; for
all times and all time. May they form a firm foundation in each of our
lives.
In
HOPE –
David
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