Hospitality Recognizes We are Blessed to be a Blessing

 1Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

2I will make you into a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

so that you will be a blessing.

3I will bless those who bless you

and curse those who curse you;

and all the families of the earth

will be blessed through you.”

4So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. (Gen. 12:1,2)

Thoughts: Faith inspires us to know that we are blessed by a Blesser.  Faith reminds us to remember there is someone who blesses us- and that we don't have everything simply because in a vacuum we earned it- all by ourselves.  That we have health, all of our limbs, our ability to walk enables us to earn and work.  As I heard one pastor say, "Some were born on third base, and yet they think they hit a triple."  
     Abraham left Ur behind.  Ur had running water and a sewage system and was one of the most advanced cities of that day.  There was writing and commerce, and safety.  Yet he left to be a nomad because Abram felt called by God.  As Hebrews 11 says he answered God's call to go even though he was not sure where he was going.  
      He put his life, his reputation, his glory in the hands of God.  Today the Abrahamic religions- Judaism, Christianity and Islam (4 billion people) trace their origins back to this verse. 
      This is the verse that originates the idea that we are blessed to be a blessing.  "I will bless you... and all peoples of the earth will be blessed through you."  Abraham was blessed not just so he would be comfortable.  He was to be a blessing to the whole world through his belief.    
       Part of the reason we are hospitable is because we believe we are blessed in order to bless others.  We can share the blessing.  We can open up and be generous to others because all we have is because God is generous to us.  The life of Abraham was one rooted in hospitality toward family, strangers, neighbors, and those who would allow him to bless them.  As followers of Christ, we are called to be a blessing to other people by loving, sharing, caring, and giving of ourselves to others.  In some ways this verse reminds us of John 3:16- "For God so loved the world that He gave..."  Out of love, God gives to us, and invites us to give to others- following His example of love, generosity, and hospitality.  Hospitality means being a blessing.  We can do that because we recognize there is someone who blesses us.  

Prayer: Lord, you have blessed me with faith and gifts.  Help me to share what I have with others.