Already Blessed

In Greek, Ephesians 1:3 to 1:14 is one long sentence, about two hundred words with no full stop. It reads like a man who started praising God and could not find a place to stop.

The word to hold on to is "blessed." It appears twice in this verse, and the two uses mean different things. In "Blessed be the God and Father," the Greek word is eulogetos, which describes someone worthy of being spoken well of. In "who hath blessed us," it is a verb, something God did. So the first blessing is what we say about Him, and the second is what He has done for us. The second is the reason for the first, and the order cannot be turned around.

The tense carries the whole argument: "hath blessed." It is past and complete. God is not offering, getting ready, or waiting to see how your year goes. Paul also says what is included: "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." The word spiritual sets limits as well as opening things wide. Paul is not promising to pay your rent. He is talking about the gifts named in the verses that follow: chosen "before the foundation of the world," adopted, redeemed, forgiven and sealed. He says these have already been given, and none of them depend on how well you do.

This morning you may have checked your bank balance, hoping the number had moved overnight. It had not. Most of us have some version of that habit. We keep checking something, waiting for the thing we need to arrive.

Yet that checking is aimed at the wrong account. There is one that was settled in full before you were born. It does not need checking, because nothing is missing from it. So today you can begin where Paul begins, by speaking well of the God who has already blessed you.

Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 70 is One Generation (Judges 2:10).

All 365 readings in Daily Manna