BLESS

by Jackie Ricks

I’ve never liked saying, “Bless you” when someone sneezes or whatever. People often think I’m rude because of it. However, the way I always thought about it was that God is the only one who can bless so who am I to say I’m “blessing” someone. Recently, though, I heard BLESS* used as an acrostic. (Anyone who knows me knows that I love acrostics anyway.) And that kind of BLESS I can do and so can you.

Matthew 28:18-20 tells each of us to go forth and tell others about Jesus, teach them what they should do, see them baptized into a church where they can then do the same for others. That is the definition of how to make disciples, which is our theme for this year. But how do we do that? Do we just walk up to perfect strangers, beat them over the head, and tell them Jesus wants them to believe in Him? Drag them to church with us? No, we need to get to know them and form a relationship with them so that they will listen to what we have to say. That’s where the acrostic comes in. We BLESS others.

B stands for “Begin to pray for others.” We should not just go to anyone and try to witness without praying first. We pray that God is first preparing the heart of someone whom He knows is going to be ready to hear what we have to say. We ask Him to send the Holy Spirit ahead and get them ready. Then we pray that God will allow us to talk without distractions from the world. Satan is bad about sending barking dogs, crying babies, loud televisions, ringing telephones (you name it!), or anything to disrupt the flow of conversation when he knows God is working. We also pray that God gives us the perfect words to say for each situation. What we say to one person might not be the same approach we would use for someone else. We also pray that God reminds us of the best verses to use for each one we talk with.

L means “Listen to them.” We must be willing to listen to others and become acquainted with therm before they will want to listen to what we have to say. We aren’t always able to witness to a person the first time we meet them. We have to gain their confidence and respect enough for them to accept what we say as being true.

E is for “Eat with them.” Although you may not eat with everyone you meet, it does mean to be hospitable with them, to become friendly or even become friends, someone whom you would be willing to share food with. If you’ll remember, Jesus ate with some that the world considered sinners (Zaccheus). Of course, it’s good if you can invite them to your house for a meal or to meet them for coffee or dessert somewhere. There’s just a bond with people who share food together. That helps to open the way to share the most important food we have: the bread of life.

The first S represents “Serve them.” If there’s a way to help the person, offer to do it or to find a way to have it done. When someone is in need, they can’t always pay attention well to other things. If they have a physical, emotional, personal, financial, family need or whatever that you or someone you know might be able to assist with, offer to do that. Helping someone goes a long way to making them be willing to listen to what we have to say.

Finally, the last S stands for “Share with them.” Of course, we mean to share our testimony and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We may not know many Bible verses or be able to quote them, but we can always tell someone what Jesus did for us when He saved us and what He continues to do for us daily. From there, we go on to share how that person can have the same thing that we have.

Now, I can BLESS someone this way. The question is: do we, or will we? We should make this kind of BLESSing a regular habit as we live our Christian lives.

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 19:1-10; Acts 1:8; Galatians 5:13

PRAYER: “Lord, thank you for saving me. Help me to show others what You can do for them. Lead me to the ones whom You are preparing to hear the Word. Give me the words to say and let me be the example I should be as I try to disciple them. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

RESPONSE:   Pray that God will prepare the person He has for you to disciple and then prepare to do just that.

* Bro. Heith Mitchell used this acrostic in a message and said I could share it.