Blessed Day

O.K., I will be the first to confess… I thought people who would say that they “were blessed” when asked how they were doing were a little overboard.  People who say have a “blessed day” were just going through the motions, like the Pharisee Jesus talked about praying for show. (Luke 18:9-14)  I don’t think I am the only one who probably has felt that way either.  Have you? 

Then I came across Paul’s words to the Philippians I have known for a long time, but apparently had forgotten.  “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” (1:20) Am I ashamed of Jesus?  God forbid!  I am truly not ashamed of Jesus or afraid to express my love for Him.  So why am I not like those people who profess their blessedness. 

When the early followers of Jesus showed up, everyone knew.  What’s happened to His followers of our day?  In the book of Acts,- Jesus’ followers were said to have “turned the world upside down”.  Most times we aren’t even accused of turning over our hands, but even more disturbing is that we don’t even talk about our Savior.  At least we should be willing to give God the glory for our blessings in our day, right?

In First Corinthians 6:20,  we are reminded that we “were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”  Do we do this, even in our everyday conversation?  I am sure we talk the talk on Sunday, but what happens when Monday comes?  We would never be accused of being Sunday Christians… would we?  I know that knowing how my Savior and Lord suffered and died for me I would want Him to be proud of me.  Don’t you?

Jesus had something to say to us about this in Matthew 12:33-34, “The tree is known by its fruit…. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”   What kind of fruit are we producing, any at all?  Marshall Keeble once said, “Maybe we can’t judge people, but we can be fruit inspectors.”  If we were being looked at by others, which we are, by the way, what would they say about our fruit?

Do people know we have been with Jesus?  Do we speak the name of Jesus after Sunday? I realize we haven’t been with Jesus in a physical sense, but those of us who follow Jesus have His very Spirit living inside us.  That’s about as close as we can get.  In Acts 4:13, the Great Sanhedrin, when examining Peter and John were “astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”  Can anyone we see that we even know who Jesus is?

Let us no longer hide Jesus inside our hearts, but let us glorify him on Monday the same way we do on Sunday.  Have a blessed day!

God Bless!