Good morning,
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:3)
Israel is still in the news after all the thousands of years that this piece of land was first mentioned by God. The quote at the top of this Monday Minute was given to Abram around 4,000 years ago when God called the man we know as Abraham to leave his home in a pagan culture and go to the place God would show him. God promised to make Abram a great nation that he would bless, would make him famous and would be a blessing to others. God made a very interesting promise that is still in force to this very day. God promised to bless those who came from this man’s family and to curse those who would treat his extended family with contempt. Since the God of the Bible never lies, our generation has to live under the same agreement that God made all those years ago. If we as individuals or as a nation are willing to support God’s special people, then the Eternal God promises to bless us as individuals or as nations for accepting his view of his people. Of course if we are contemptuous of God’s chosen people, we will then come under God’s curse for not listening to God’s warning to treat his chosen people his way.
When Paul was writing to the Ephesians, he pointed out that this plan included people of any nation who had a living relationship with the Eternal God. Paul pointed out that “Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children.” Those of us who have trusted Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as our Savior and Lord, come under the blessing of our Father God. We are members of the same kingdom, we are famous and are a blessing to others as well. God’s master plan for time included more than just the believing Jews of the nation of Israel. We “Both are part of the same body,” and as part of this wonderful eternal family we will “both enjoy the promise of blessings because they(we)belong to Christ Jesus.” I think that it is wonderfully true that wherever the Good News has reached any of the families in any part of our world, God’s kids have been a blessing to those who have heard and believed. This same promise doesn’t just stop at the blessing. If any individuals or countries treat God’s kids with contempt, God must keep that part of this promise as well. The chaos going on in contentious individuals and countries around us today is also a part of the curse God promised so long ago.
Ephesians 3: 6 And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.
Roy Wisner
