James 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

While this might have been very true at one time, it seems to be less and less true. The words of blessings seem to be missing in action. I for one had to confess this in church yesterday. While pondering the issues of failing to hear what was once common greetings that blessed friends, family and neighbors, I realized they failed to fall from my lips also.

My failing to focus on this gift of the Lord comes from dwelling on the negative. There is so much we all care about, are shocked to see, or angry and in so doing lose focus on our calling. The Lord told us to bless and not to curse. This He instructed to do to our enemies. How much so should we bless those we love and care about?

I think about Jacob and Esau and how Jacob ended up with both Esau’s inheritance and their father’s right hand of blessing. Now Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew but his blessing was stolen by Jacob. This tells me that the blessing held more importance than wealth. In this age we have forsaken that attitude and seek things before blessings. We have forgotten the value of the blessing. Perhaps that is why we have given up practicing the blessing.

We say we bless the food but are we not really just giving thanks? We miss out on a great service in the release of the blessing, it is grace in action.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.