Verse for today – “Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).”
We have physical eyes. We live in a physical world. Every day our eyes see this world’s attractions. We see the sky, the earth, the landscape, the sun, moon, and stars. We see the cities we have built and the roads that connect them. We see earthly things. How can we possibly see spiritual things? How can we understand spiritual blessings and things in heavenly places? The first answer is that often we cannot! Jesus asked a man named Nicodemus, “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12). We struggle to “see” and understand things we cannot see with our eyes. But that does not mean they are not real.
In today’s verse Paul praises God because God has blessed Christians. Now remember, we haven’t really discussed how someone becomes a Christian yet. At this point we’ve simply said they are people who belong to Christ and try to follow Christ. But the verse tells us God has blessed them with “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” It sounds like a pretty big deal! Fortunately, we don’t have to speculate about what Paul means. He probably doesn’t describe all of these “blessings,” but he does go on to list at least 12 of them in the following verses. We will try to cover one blessing each day for the next 12 days.
For today, however, please meditate on this thought. God wants to bless you! He wants you to know Him, to come into a relationship with Him, to belong to Him, and to follow Him. God wants all of this for you so that He can bless you! God is love and it is His nature to do good. The Bible tells us that “every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights… (James 1:17).” Jesus told us that God is even kind to the wicked. This may be shocking to you, but to a limited degree it is true. Think about Jesus’ words:
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt. 5:44-45).”
Doing good to us is such a part of God’s nature that He blesses us in many ways, even if we are against Him. However, as you rejoice in God’s amazing goodness, keep this second truth firmly in mind; it may well determine the entire course of your life. God cannot truly bless the proud. God cannot truly bless the selfish. God cannot support sin! This too is a part of God’s nature. He is not an enabler. God is in the business of transforming our world; a world that has lost its way. God will help you, and wants to help you, but you must begin by humbling your heart before Him.