Hounded by Blessing

"Curses chase sinners, while blessings chase the righteous!" Proverbs 13:21

"Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Blessing."

"Blessing who?"

"The blessing of the Lord that makes a person rich, and He adds no sorrow with it" (Proverbs 10:22).

As a child, content to play by myself, my mother often had to compel me to play with the neighbor children whom I loved dearly.  

"Prissy," she would say.  "Why did you tell the girls 'no'?  Go and play with the twins!"

"Yes, ma'am."

The twins and I always had the very best time playing together.  It is one of my fondest memories.  Yet, I had to be forced by my mother to enjoy this richest and sweetest of blessings.

I think we are often the same way with God.  He stands ready, willing, and able to bless us—even pursuing us with the richness of His blessing—yet we make choices that are dismissive and reject His amazing gifts to us.  2 Peter 2:21-22 says it this way, "It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. They prove the truth of this proverb: 'A dog returns to its vomit.' And another says, 'A washed pig returns to the mud'" (NLT).

Francis Thompson wrote an amazing poem entitled, "The Hound of Heaven" that was published in 1893.  It depicts God's relentless pursuit of the human soul so beautifully.  You can read the complete poem here:  The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson.

But let us go back to the door.  The blessing of God is knocking, desperate to come in and dwell with you and with me.  No, it doesn't look like the worldly, temporal blessings many think of.  God's blessing is much deeper.  It is lasting, eternal, unexplainable.

Psalm 133:1-3 tells us, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments.  It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forevermore" (NKJV).

May we live righteously, inviting in the richness of His blessing each and every day.

Goodnight, Runners.