A Blessing for the School Year
May the Lord bless you and protect you;
May the Lord make His face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
May the Lord look with favor on you
and give you peace.
Numbers 6: 24-26
Nothing can be more truthful, sure, encouraging or strengthening than
the Word of God. This blessing found in the book of Numbers was to be recited
over God’s chosen people, the Children of Israel. These words continually
pointed to the Lord as the source of everything they would need. Under this
blessing and in the obedience of His Word, they would find true prosperity.
Although this was written for the
Children of Israel thousands of years ago, through the resurrection power of
Jesus Christ, we are also able to benefit in five ways from this blessing as
well. Let me show you.
May the Lord bless us…
William E. Brown defined blessing as the
“endowed power for prosperity and success”. We find comfort in this promise
from Jesus when he said, “I
will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven.” The apostles Paul and Peter remind of us
this in 2 Timothy 1:7 and 2Peter 1:3.
…and protect us;
Who wrote more about the protection of
the Lord than King David? Psalm after psalm describes God's ability and
willingness to protect those He loves. David paints a vivid picture of the
protection of God in Psalm 18. We know that “no weapon formed against us shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17) and that God “will never leave
us nor forsake us.” Hebrews 13:5. We can find rest in these verses in
the midst of school shootings and civil unrest.
…May
the Lord make
His face shine on us and be gracious to
us;
This
means that God looks on us and is pleased by what He sees and consequently
blesses us because of this. However, that is only possible through the grace
afforded us by the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary and His ascension to heaven
where He is interceding with God on our behalf every day. We are encouraged in
this fact by knowing that God is able to make all grace abound towards us
so that in all things at all times having all that we need, we will abound in
every good work.2Corinthians 9: 8
…May
the Lord look with favor on
us
Again,
words are spoken over His chosen ones to receive His goodness. God’s favor is
blessings which set us apart, we who have obtained His inheritance, the
adoption into His family. As recipients of His favor, we who take
delight in the Lord, receive the desires of our heart. Psalm
37:4. His favor will cause you to prosper in situations where others fail.
…and
give us peace.
Our
God of hope fills us with all joy and peace. It is a peace that passes all
understanding. God’s peace keeps us as we believe and
trust Him with every aspect of our lives. God’s peace will rule
our hearts and minds and help us to
live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.
May
you be blessed this school year knowing that God is on your side. Take comfort
in this living, breathing and active blessing and receive it for your school
year.
The Lord is with you and you are loved,
Toni
