3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philemon 1:3 (NIV)
Empty words. How often do we throw them around? “How are you?” When you asked that are your prepared for the truth? Are you ready for an explicit detail of my true condition in life or are you searching for the polite, “Fine and you?”
We have depleted the weight of words. Like “love.” We love everything. So because we love so much the people in life that truly deserve to be told we love them get a word that’s been used on everything from chocolate to American Idol to butterflies to the Dodgers. Empty words. We’ve emptied the weight of the word “love.”
Or how about this phrase: “God bless you.” I grew up in church and that was the go too greeting for everyone. It was always a “God bless you!” and a firm handshake. As I got older and began to develop a healthy amount of questioning things I wondered: Do you mean it? Do you really want God to bless me? Do you know what you’re saying and what it means? You are requesting a big thing from God. It’s a big deal so please don’t take it lightly. You are asking God to give me a supernatural amount of favor. That’s a big deal. You are requesting from heaven God’s best in my life—favor. Preferential treatment! Goodwill! “The God of all creation, the Giver of all good gifts, the Owner of all things, the limitless God of glory, please have favor on your son, Israel.” That’s huge. And it’s exactly what Paul is requesting from God on Philemon’s behalf: “Grace (favor) to you… from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
So my admonition for you today is to bring weight back to your words. You want to know how people are doing and if you’re willing to have them lay their burdens on you then ask, “How are you?” Bring worth to what you truly love by being stingy with how you use it. And “God bless” people everywhere you go. Throw around the “Grace to you!” But realize the weight of what you’re saying. And next time someone says, “God bless you!” to you, ask them, “Really? You’re asking God to bless me? Thank you so much. I hope His favor rests on you the same.”
Questions to consider:
What does “God bless you” really mean?
Why is it important to know what it means?
Should we be saying it more? Why or why not?
Comments
Post a Comment