The Life that is Blessed

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Lk 11:27–28).

A woman in the crowd was so struck by the authoritative teaching and delivering power of Jesus that she was moved to acknowledge the unique anointing that rested upon Him. She believed the source of the anointing that empowered Jesus and His ministry was a reflection of God’s blessing on Mary, His mother and she declared her to be blessed (Greek – makarios: supremely fortunate, well-off, happy). It was natural for a loving mother to attribute such compassion, charisma, and power to inheritance and upbringing. Jesus did not deny that His mother was blessed, but He wanted this precious woman and the crowd of followers to know that the favor that rested upon His mother was available to all true disciples. Despite what you’re experiencing today, you can know and enjoy the life that is blessed.

Like Mary, true disciples are blessed because of our relationship with Jesus. You are not enslaved by your family of origin. Perhaps you grew up in a warm, encouraging home or a severely dysfunctional household. Maybe you were raised in a wealthy or a poor family. You do not have to be trapped by the circumstances that formed you. When you received Jesus Christ you were born again into the family of God… “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). Nothing that’s happening to you today can change your pedigree… “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). True disciples have the blessing of an unbreakable relationship with Jesus Christ!

Like Mary, true disciples are blessed because we are called to do God’s work. Just as every true disciple is saved by the grace of God, so too every true child of God is created for a unique work of God… “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). When we make a priority of loving God and seeking and doing God’s work we discover our true purpose and fulfillment and everything comes together for us… “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). True disciples have the blessing of enjoying a great day every day as we answer the call to be fully engaged in God’s work.

Like Mary, true disciples are blessed because we can hear the Word of God and keep it. The spiritual truth implanted in God’s word is not understood by unsaved people… “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Holy Spirit is a Helper to truth seekers born of God… “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). The love of Christ that consumes the heart of true disciples also compels us to keep (Greek – phylassō: watch, guard, observe, and preserve) His Word… “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). Jesus taught that His Word was life for hungry disciples… “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). The Spirit inspired John to write that those who keep His Word will be blessed in this troubled world as well as in eternity… “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3). True disciples know the life-giving and sustaining blessing of hearing and keeping God’s Word.

As we grow up into Christ immersed in Him, His work and His Word, we experience the…

The Life that is Blessed.