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“Gesundheit” or “Bless You”!
Probably like me you've wondered why people say “Bless
You” whenever someone sneezes. For the most part it
originates from ancient superstitions. Some believed
that the sneeze caused the soul to escape the body
through the nose. Saying "bless you" would stop the
devil from claiming the person's freed soul. Others
believed the opposite: that evil spirits use the sneeze
as an opportunity to enter a person's body. There was
also the misconception that the heart momentarily stops
during a sneeze (it doesn't), and that saying "bless
you" was a way of welcoming the person back to life. The
word “gesundheit” is actually a German word that means
“health”. What I'm after is to share with you
scripturally some of the factors involved with having
good health, spiritually and physically or in other
words to be blessed!
To Bless means to bestow blessings upon. The Blessed are
the objects of God's favor. Blessings are the gift of
God’s grace. (Ephesians 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in
Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame
before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as
sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good
pleasure of His will.”) So right away we can conclude
that there is no superstition or chance to receiving
blessings from God. God's blessings are deliberate and
intentional upon those that are in Christ Jesus. They
are the direct result of God 's Grace.
Other areas of God Blessing us is to be faithful to God.
To be faithful is not just the performance of a duty,
but it is a “full-of-faith” characteristic of our lives
that brings blessings with it. There are the blessings
of allowing the Lord to daily take our cares (Ps. 5:1–3
“Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my
meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King
and my God, For to You I will pray. My voice You shall
hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will
direct it to You, And I will look up”). Seeing prayers
answered (James 5:15 & 16 “And the prayer of faith will
save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if
he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess
your trespasses to one another, and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The effective,
fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”), and
the blessings of living in wisdom (Matt. 7:24–27
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and
does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his
house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods
came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it
did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But
everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not
do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house
on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.
And great was its fall”). Proverbs 28:20 says that the
faithful man will “abound with blessings”. There are
many blessings in store for the faithful, but
faithfulness is something we are called to. It requires
that we do our part. This, in turn, releases—through
faith’s action—the operation of God’s power, which
brings faith’s reward.
In 1 King 3:1-16 we read that Solomon loved the Lord so
and that he wanted to walk in his father King David's
ways in a right relationship with God. He asks of God to
have an understanding heart so that he may judge fairly
God's people, to discern between good and evil. Because
he seeks to serve the Lord fervently, God grants his
wishes and also blesses him with things he didn't ask
for, riches and honor.
This coming year, be Blessed by God because you are in a
“right relationship” with him. Be faithful to him
because he is faithful and just to you. Let us be a
Blessing to those we encounter and show them how
gracious GOD is.
“GESUNDHEIT “ AND MAY GOD “BLESS YOU” In 2007!
BRENNING |
