THE BLESSING - #2

Dr. Donald J. Ralston

I. Last week we defined the Blessing as being a bestowal of good in words and action on
another

A. It also includes in those words, the praise of our children or our mates; it is speaking well of them in front of others

1. The blessing carries with it the idea the well being and worth of another person
2. We saw that the orthodox Jew still bestows blessing on the children
3. Does it apply to us today? Or was it something just for Old Testament believers?

B. How can I know if I have received this blessing?

1. Am I giving this blessing to my offspring ?
2. An I giving this blessing to my mate?

II. What are the basic elements of the Blessing?

A. The Blessing has five key elements

1. Blend these five things together and you will see a human life blossom and grow.
2. You will produce a healthy, confident and productive human being .

3. We will deal with all five elements individually later, but for now I will merely introduce them.

B. The first is Meaningful Touch

1. This was an essential element in bestowing the Blessing the in the Old Testament (Gen. 27:26)
2. Each time the Blessing was given in Scripture, touching provided a caring background to the words being spoken 3.Touching has beneficial effects, the act of touch is a key to
communicating warmth and personal acceptance
4. Touch is an integral part of the blessing

C. Second aspect is the Spoken Message

1. In many homes, words of love and acceptance are seldom heard
2. Parents have the mistaken notion that simply being present under the same roof communicates the Blessing
3. A Blessing only becomes a reality when it is spoken
4. For the child seeking the blessing, the only thing silence
communicates is confusion
5. In order for the Blessing to bloom and grow in the life of our child or spouse, we need to verbalize the message
6. Good words are necessary to
provide genuine acceptance

D. Third is to Attach High Value

1. The first two elements, touch and speech lead up to the words of Blessing themselves - words that attach high value to the person being addressed
2. To value something means to attach honor to is
3. In Fact, that is essentially the meaning of the Hebrew word "to bless" it literally means "to bow the knee"
4. The word was used to show reverence for an important person
5. This doesn't mean that in order to bless a person we have to fall on our knees and bow before them
6. It does mean that the words of Blessing should carry with them the recognition that this person is valuable
7. In Blessing his son, Isaac, says, "Let people serve you and nations bow down to you..." (Gen 27) that pictures a very valuable person
8. Notice Isaac used word pictures to describe how valuable his son is to him; word pictures are a powerful way to communicate acceptance

C. The fourth element is to Picture a
Special Future

1. When Isaac prayed that people would bow down to his son, he was picturing a special future for him
2. I think of the story of the two Jewish ladies who met on the
street - Sidel, a young mother was pushing her stroller with her two infant sons
3. She saw her neighbor, Sarah who cooed, "My what beautiful children, what are their names?"
4. Pointing to each child, Sidel replied, "This is Bennie, the doctor and Reuben, the lawyer."
5. This woman pictured a bright future for her sons
6. Now we can't predict a person's future, but we can encourage and help them set meaningful goals

D. The fifth element is an Active Commitment

1. The last element pictures the responsibility that goes with the giving of the Blessing
2. The active commitment is important when it comes to bestowing the Blessing because words alone cannot communicate it effectively
3. The Blessing must be backed by the commitment to do everything possible to help the one blessed to be successful
4. For instance, we can tell our child they have the talent to be a great pianist and even picture a bright future for them
5. But if we neglect to purchase a piano to practice on, our lack of commitment has undermined our message
6. You have the talent to be a great ballplayer but we must buy a bat and glove and practice with them.

III. We need to spend time with our children - "Son, we will go to that football game this
weekend." The weekend comes and goes but the disappointment of your son lingers on forever

A. When this happens, our children no longer believe our words because they
lack an active commitment.
B.. Add these five elements as life ingredients to any child and you will produce a healthy productive human being.

IV. Perhaps after hearing this you feel discouraged you realize your family never
gave you these things

A. As a result, you may have failed to bless your own children

1. Please don't lose heart, we will give an answer to both of these needs as we proceed in this series of messages
2. God has made provision for those of us who had to deal with the loss of family blessing

B. Jesus Himself practiced giving the Blessing to children in Mark 10:13-16

1. Jesus gave the Blessing to those who came to Him to receive it
2. You can receive His Blessing this morning
3. You can receive the Blessed gift of eternal life, you can receive the blessing of the forgiveness of sin
4. You can receive the blessing of sonship (John 1:12)
5. To those who received Him, He gave them the right to become sons of God
6. God will bless you with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3)