Blessed To Be Secure

Beloved, you belong to God.

Before God’s voice thundered into the unformed cosmos,

Sending forth light at 186,000 miles per second,

Before He created the Canis Majoris star large enough

To house seven quadrillion earths,

Before He set the earth on its elliptical course and started it spinning,

God imagined you.

His eyes saw your “unformed substance,” and your days were written in God’s book “when as yet there was none of them” (Ps. 139:16).

Before the Lord “formed you in the womb,” He “knew you” (Jer. 1:5).

The pinnacle of God’s creation is not seen in the expanse of the Grand Canyon

or in the towering sequoias of the Redwood Forest.

You are the pinnacle of God’s handiwork.

His greatest masterpiece is not unveiled in a multihued sunset over a rolling ocean

Or in a radiant rainbow arced across freshly emptied clouds.

You are God’s masterpiece.

I bless you to be as Ephraim and Manasseh

Because, once adopted by Jacob,

They knew they belonged—forever,

Heirs

Who could never be disowned.

God made you and adopted you.

You are His for good!

* * *

Today’s blessing references the mysterious scene of Jacob blessing his grandsons which began with the act of Jacob adopting them.

Genesis 48:5 (ESV) — 5 And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.

As I explain fully in my new book, The Power to Bless (Baker Books, releasing Feb 2, 2021), for 3700 years, Jewish fathers have blessed their children to be “as Ephraim and Manasseh.” Why Ephraim and Manasseh? Why not bless people to be like Abraham and Isaac or Elijah and Elisha? Part of the answer is on display in the beautiful act of Jacob adopting his grandsons. My new book explains it all! Pre-order the book today from Amazon and get the audiobook FREE!