Be a blessing

The Resurrection

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. ² Very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen. ³ They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” ⁴ Looking up, they *saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. ⁵ Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. ⁶ And he *said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. ⁷ But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” (Mark 16:1-7)

I love how these women had no idea how the stone was to be moved, but they went forward anyway.  They kept moving forward, believing that there would be a way to bless Jesus, by anointing His body with spices.  They intended to bless Jesus, but instead they were witnesses to the greatest miracle to have ever occurred throughout all of the History of Mankind.  They waited until the Sabbath was over, and then they went and spent their own money, to buy spices to anoint Jesus Body, to bless Him.  Even as they were moving forward, they wondered how they would roll away the stone.  They knew they were not strong enough, but they kept moving forward, determined to anoint the Body of their Beloved Jesus.  God made a way, but a way even more wonderful then they could ever had imagined.

I believe Jesus was blessed by this.  For He knew they would be there, He knew they were coming to anoint Him.  He sent a messenger there to declare there the joyous truth that, “He is Risen.”  Their original purpose was never fulfilled, they were never able to anoint Jesus’ Body, for He had risen.  But God had an even bigger blessing in store for these women who set out to be a blessing.

So don’t give up on a blessing, don’t fall short of a journey to do something good for someone else.  It is not enough to plan it, think about it, and delight in it.  We must give our blessings, legs and hands and feet.  We must give our blessings a voice, our voice.  So if God has placed it in your heart to go forward and bless another, do so, with all your heart.  Things may not turn out the way we expect, but I believe God knows our hearts, and when we set out to bless others, we also will be blessed by God, perhaps in greater ways than we could ever possibly imagine.  So keep blessing one another in Christ.

²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, ²¹ to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)