Gifts from God

Having been raised in a church, I am relatively familiar with many different hymns.  As such, I oftentimes find myself just singing the words and forget to really praise God with them or allow them to convict me.  However, I was convicted while singing the song "Make Me a Blessing" at a service during Holy Week (the week before Easter).  Here is the refrain:

Make me a blessing,

Make me a blessing,

Out of my life

out of my life

May Jesus shine;

Make me a blessing, O savior, I pray,

I pray Thee, my Savior,

Make me a blessing to someone today.

But what exactly does being a blessing mean?  The first few definitions from Dictionary.com say that a blessing is:

noun

1.the act or words of a person who blesses.

2.a special favor, mercy, or benefit:

the blessings of liberty.

3.a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness.

Okay, so definition 1 is not much help.  But what about number 2?  It seems to shine a new light upon what we're asking God to do when we sing the song.  We are asking God to make us a benefit to someone else.  If we continue reading to definition 3 we see that a blessing is a gift given by God.  

Now as I sang this song during Holy Week, I wondered if I really wanted to be singing the song!  Did I really want God to use me as a gift to somebody else?  Quite simply, the answer was no!  (Please recall my blog about those weeks and what I said about being at the service just to be there, not to grow in Christ.  Read that post here.)  I was not at the service for the right reasons.  I just wanted to go to the service, leave and work on my to do list.  My heart was not in the right place and I wanted to be selfish with my time.  Upon this realization during the service, I began to pray that God would move my heart so that I would want to be a blessing.  I still have a long way to go.  Today, when my church say that song again, I sang it wholeheartedly, truly wanting God to use me.  I hope that today God used me as a blessing to someone.  I hope that God continues using me as a blessing.  Some days I am not so willing, but I know on those days God will be gracious, patient, and loving with his flawed daughter.

Do you want to be a gift from God today?

Living in Reckless Abandonment for Jesucristo, 
Jo