Happy Thanksgive-it-away and Happy Mall-i-days

“And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing…”

   ~Genesis 12

When we were originally invited to go on the journey to “bible lands” in the middle East it never really occurred to me how much I would be impacted by these lands as they are today – the culture, the people, the economy.  These lands, in my head, were in a time-warp – Egypt, Jordan and Israel were places of ancient times, of the stories of the Bible and history, not where “real”people lived today.  

But there were real people there.  People who like me and you were trying to provide for their families and give necessities of life.

On our original letter of invitation, and each day on the trip, these words from Genesis were implanted on our hearts:  “blessed to be a blessing...”  We were going to be incredibly blessed by this trip, especially from a financial standpoint as it was entirely sponsored by faithful Christians who believed in the incredible investment sending all us “ministry-type-people” would be...

BUT (and that’s a HUGE BUT!)  with great blessing comes great responsibility.  And we were strongly encouraged and constantly invited bless others because we ourselves were going to be blessed on this journey. 

And those words “blessed to be a blessing” have been completely imprinted on my heart ever since.

Our leaders made it very clear how dire economic circumstances were in Egypt and Jordan, and already the first day we could see this firsthand.  The pyramids which years before would be crawling with tourists, were eerily empty and nearly abandoned by visitors.  We were reminded daily by our wonderful leaders that as the small group of Christian tourists, we were to use our presence there to bless people we encountered.   Not only were we welcome to financially bless those we came into contact with, but we were to do it with the love of Jesus in our hearts. 

“Blessed to be a blessing.”

When God is using these words in Genesis, speaking here to Abraham about being a blessing as God will bless him, God is actually using a command: “You SHALL be a blessing”  the second half of the verse says, literally can be translated as “and so BE a blessing!” 

Here in Canada and for sure in the USA “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” are those big spending days.  Buy, buy, and buy.  And the entire month of December continues with that trend.   And I’m not going to lie, I also enjoy shopping for family and friends to find the “perfect” gift for those I love.   

And I’m definitely not going to say that there is something “wrong” with this tradition of gift-giving at Christmas, as I myself love the tradition and find it a special time with my family…

But I wonder how “truly” good we are at the giving part OUTSIDE our families and those we love.   

How good are we at digging even deeper into our pockets and blessing those who are so much less fortunate than we are?  I know I myself will spend a few extra dollars to “make the season bright” for my own celebrations and family and friends, but will I really dig deep to give to others who are in need?  Will I truly use my blessings to bless others?

One week ago today was “Giving Tuesday” which was this brilliant idea by a group of people to embrace the idea of giving at the beginning of the Christmas season.  After “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” it was time to have “Giving Tuesday” where people were encouraged to give it away.

And what an awesome idea! But there is one little issue.  It is after Black Friday.  It is after Cyber Monday.  So there’s an unintended message – whatever you have leftover after all that shopping, maybe give some of that…

But since the beginning God wants us to give FIRST.  God wants us to be a blessing FIRST, trusting FIRST that he will provide – that’s the whole idea of “firstfruits” (which, by the way already shows up in Genesis 4!!).  God has blessed us to be a blessing and we need to give FIRST.  We need to make it “Thanks-give-it away” already before these Black Friday and Cyber Monday and the bills run up in December.  Think FIRST of who and how you can bless this Christmas season, whether it’s someone in your neighbourhood, or a person you have not nor ever will meet who lives across the world.

God has blessed you to be a blessing.  God has blessed me to be a blessing.

As a very wise friend said: “Often in our materialistic world, we equate material wealth with spiritual blessing… but when God gives us material wealth, it’s not a blessing UNLESS we use it to bless others.”

I’m pretty sure when we do the thanks-giving-it-away thing  before  we do the Happy Mall-i-days, thing we will be blessed in return more than we ever thought.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard."
~Isaiah 58



Photo above:  we visited a beautiful mosaic shop in Jordan which was run by a Christian Jordanian man who employs special-needs people -- a group mostly cast off by the rest of their society.