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Saturday, October 26, 2013

The best kind of day

Have you ever heard someone say "Have a blessed day!" in passing?

Yesterday, on my way into work, I overheard a woman greet one of the security guards, and her parting words to him were "Have a blessed day!" I've heard this phrase a number of times in a similar context, but for some reason it really made me pause and reflect.

What exactly does it mean when someone tells you to have a blessed day?
  • Is it a command? "You need to have a blessed day."
  • Is it a prayer? "I'm praying that your day is full of blessings."
  • Is it a superstition? "I think if I tell you to have a blessed day, it will be better than if I didn't."
After thinking through these options, I settled on one that I plan to focus on as we enter the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. When I think of the phrase "Have a blessed day," I am going to interpret it as "Spend this day focused on the God-given blessings in your life."

The Bible is full of messages about how God blesses us. One of the richest chapters about God's blessings is Matthew 5 where we find the Sermon on the Mount.

Among the blessings, Jesus tells the people that God will bless those who realize their need for Him. When we truly reflect on the sin in our lives, it should bring us to our knees as we recognize how badly we need His grace and how good He is to offer it to us. He blessed us by giving His life to free us from sin (Titus 2:14 and John 3:16-17).

He blesses those who work for peace, who are pure, and who show mercy (Matt 5).

God blesses us with spiritual blessings.

When we think about our life in a first world country, blessings should spill from our lips: food, clothing, shelter, electricity, clean water, freedom of religion...comforts, restaurants, cars, jobs, entertainment. What about the things we would more easily recognize if we lived in a third world country: five senses, warm sunlight, cool shadows, genuine smiles, heart-felt hugs, time to reflect, words to articulate feelings and music to fill the gaps?

If we take the time to consider our blessings, every day will be "blessed."