Appertion of song of the open road
Answers
Answer:
Throughout the ages Christians have desired the blessings of the Lord. In the Old Testament we see Jacob being so desirous of the covenant blessing that he was willing to deceive his father Isaac in order to obtain it. Later, after God established a covenant with Israel through the giving of the law, the blessings had to be earned by keeping the law. The blessings were proclaimed from Mt. Gerizim and the curses from Mt. Ebal.
Christians want God to bless their ministry, their crops, their plans, their church, their sermons, their missionaries, their tithes and offerings, etc. Why do we desire them? We know that without God's blessing there will not be a greater ministry, more miracles, greater prosperity, and better health and success in all our endeavors! So we ask God to bless our efforts in the work that we do for Him, as well as for the things that please us. Often we dress our selfish desires in clothes of religiosity, so we can hide our greed and desire for honor.
Have you ever wondered whether your definition of God's blessing matches God's definition? Do God's blessings always lead to what we call success? In spite of the fact that we use the word "blessing" or "bless" lavishly in our prayers and in our speech and in our writings, do we only have a foggy idea of its true meaning? We know it means something good, but do we know what good is?
As we researched its meaning, we were rather surprised to find that one of the Greek words from which our English word "blessing" is translated, is EULOGO. "It is made up of two Greek words, namely EU, meaning good or well, and LOGOS, meaning word. It means to bless or speak well of." The Greek word EULOGIA "refers to one upon whom God has acted or who has experienced His blessing." EULOGESO means, "I have done this for you and I will do it for the nations as well, through you." (Zodhiates) Our English word "eulogy" conveys the concept of