Answer: It’s good, very good!I’ve heard some form of the word “bless” in a number of settings, such as:
• “Bless you” (after sneezing).
• “God bless you” (a form of “thank you,” such as after you give a homeless person some food).
• “I feel really blessed” (I have it good).
• “It was such a blessing to be here” (I liked this!).
• “Bless me, my father, bless me” (Esau, feeling left out of getting the birthright for the firstborn).
• “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name” (a psalm of David’s).
• “May the Lord be gracious unto you and bless you” (a benediction).
• “You’ll be blessed” (Elton John lyrics).
• Bless the Beasts and Children (title of a book and a play, also a 1970s song by Karen Carpenter offering something for the underdogs or the weak in comparison to the strong).
• God bless America (I have strong feelings of patriotism and spirituality mixed together).
• “Bless this house, O Lord, we pray” (lyrics from an Irish blessing song and prayer that we sang at the dedication of our new house when we moved in).
• “I’m sure God will bless you” (you’ll get a great payback from God).
Where have you heard someone mention something about “blessing”? When do you use it?
According to the dictionary, the word “blessed” comes from the old English word “blood,” and it’s used in consecration. It could mean to hallow or consecrate by religious rite or word, to hallow with the sign of the cross, to invoke divine care (bless your heart), to praise or glorify (bless His holy name), to speak well of, to confer prosperity or happiness upon, protect, preserve, endow, favor (blessed with athletic ability).
The meaning of “blessed” goes back to the Old Testament Hebrew words barak and ashre that get translated “bless.” The New Testament Greek words eulogeo and markarios also get translated as “bless.” Here are some examples that I found in The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary:
God’s blessing happens when God gives good gifts to someone (see 2 Samuel 6:11, 12; Job 42:12).
When people “bless” God, they are simply acknowledging God as the one who gives spiritual and material prosperity (see Psalm 63:4; 103:1-5; 145:2).
When one person blesses another, that person is expressing a wish that the other one will be given good gifts (see Joshua 14:13; 1 Samuel 2:20).
Blessed can mean happy or fortunate (see Psalm 1:1; 2:12; 32:1, 2; Matthew 5:1-12).
If every good gift has its origins in God (see James 1:17), then every blessing has its origins in God as well. But the blessings we receive from God aren’t merely for us. We are blessed in order to bless others, which has been God’s intention from the beginning (see Genesis 1:28-31). He repeated it when He promised a blessing to Abram–a blessing that would reach everyone on earth through Abram (see Genesis12:2, 3).
The same is true today. Every blessing that God gives us is for our benefit and for us to share with others. So bless you! Oh, God has already done that? Well, He’s doing it some more. Enjoy it, and pass it along by blessing others, too!
