Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighborhood monkey and dogs,
Welcoming you to Towards the Light,
An Advent journey.
And today on day 18,
We're talking about how God wants to use us to be conduits of blessing.
Now Advent,
As much as it is a season of receiving,
It's also a season of giving,
But not in a transactional sense of gifts exchanged,
But in a deeper sense of being conduits of the blessings that we receive as we walk through this Advent season.
We're not called to hold on to the light we've been given,
But as it comes,
The call is to reflect it outward into a world in need.
Now this is something that is ingrained in who we are as a people of God and was a cornerstone,
A keystone of the original call that was given to Abraham when God decided to make covenant with people and reveal himself and be close to them.
And in that call in Genesis 12,
In verse 2,
God says to Abraham,
If you go,
I will bless you.
I will make your name great.
And,
And this is the important part,
And you will be a blessing.
And verse 3 continues,
And all the nations of the earth will be blessed through you.
God's call on Abraham was never meant to stop with Abraham or even with Abraham's family.
It wasn't meant to be exclusive.
God wants that blessing to flow through Abraham and to bring others into that family.
The blessing was meant to flow outward,
To touch others,
To ripple through the generations,
And to give others an opportunity to see and understand the relationship and the covenant that God wants to make with them.
And the same is true for each one of us.
The love,
The grace,
The peace,
The joy,
The light we receive from God are not ours to hoard and hold onto.
They are gifts meant to be shared.
I've always said that I think in many Christian circles,
There's a bit of a stench because the living water is simply pooled into puddles that are kept for one group of people.
And of course,
We all know what happens to water if it sits stagnant for too long.
It starts to dry up,
And if it sits there long enough,
It starts to smell and becomes putrid,
And can't even be drunk because it has all sorts of bacteria that are bad for us in it.
But rather,
What we receive from God is meant to be like water that flows.
It comes through us.
We are conduits of that love and life of God.
And because that living water flows through us and out to others,
Those streams are fresh and alive,
Full of life and full of life giving.
This is what happens when we move from a mentality that says,
This is mine to the true angle.
If you look at the Ark of Scripture,
That this is us and we are all walking towards God together and there to support one another in that walk.
I love the way Anne Lamott puts this.
She says of lighthouses,
Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save.
They just stand there shining.
It's important to remember that to be a conduit of blessing isn't about effort or striving.
It's not about amazing programs or action plans.
It's simply about being present,
Grounded in God's love and letting that love shine naturally through your words,
Through your actions and through your presence.
In other words,
By just being who you already are.
Jesus' teaching in Matthew 25 reminds us of what it looks like to bless others.
Feeding the hungry,
Welcoming the stranger,
Clothing the naked and visiting the sick or imprisoned.
When we serve others in these ways,
Jesus says we are serving him.
Advent invites us to embody this truth,
To see every act of kindness as a holy offering.
So how might you be a conduit of blessing this season?
Maybe it's through a kind word to a neighbor or a meal shared with someone in need or simply the gift of your time and attention.
These small acts done with love become echoes of God's grace in the world.
So may today you recognize the blessings God has poured into your life and may they fill you with gratitude.
May you open your heart and hands,
Allowing those blessings to flow outward without hesitation.
May you see every act of kindness,
No matter how small,
As a reflection of God's light in the world.
And may you find joy in being a vessel of love,
Knowing that as you bless others,
You are giving out the call of God.
I wonder,
What's one way that you and I can bless someone today without expecting anything in return?
May that act,
That word,
Whatever it is,
No matter how simple,
Be a prayer and a way of offering God's love to the world.
Grace and peace go with you,
Friend.
Amen.
