Gesundheit or Bless You?

When my girls were home and I would sneeze, they would often say, "Bless you!" I would usually have a come-back like, "Are you a Roman Catholic? Cause that's what the Catholics say." 

I had heard that in the catholic tradition, when someone sneezed, that they thought that the heart skipped a beat. Thus the tiny "blessing" would protect the sneezer from death. Making sure that God restarted the stopped heart. That is what I had heard. 

In reading Numbers 6, just after an explanation of the Nazarite vow, comes a tiny blessing that, in a way, seems out of place. 

Numbers 6:24 "'"The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."' 27 "So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."

At times you may have seen your pastor raise his hand at the end of the church service and recite this blessing. It is an amazing bit of writing and an economy of words bar none. Thus it is powerful. Look at it again and notice the following:

The LORD bless you 

This is nonother than Jehovah God, Creator of all, who is offering to bless his people! Amazing when you contemplate the ramifications. He not only wants to bless you, but he wants to

KEEP you 

Would you want to keep you if you were the All-Powerful God? Hum, good question. I am selfish, so I think that I would want to keep myself. But what about anyone else? Would they want to keep me? God wants to keep me! 

But wait a minute, how does God bless and keep? This blessing tells us. Look again. 

He makes his face shine on us. As I write, I am settling in the morning sun and it warms my soul. There is something about a sunny day that cheers and comforts. Sunshine makes a day seem doable. God's face shining on us helps us to understand that he is there and that he can do his work in my life. No matter what the circumstances. 

How does God keep you? Again, the blessing gives direction. He keeps by being gracious. Currently, in the southern US, there is a tropical storm bearing down on Florida. The meteorologists have given the hurricane an interesting name, "Grace." Ironic I know. 

God blesses and keeps us in His Grace. The Bible word "grace" means "unmerited favor". God keeps us safe in His grace. That blessing is not something that we earn or deserve. It is his gracious gift. 

He also blesses us by turning his face toward us. He looks at us and that look like a brings peace. Can it be that the believers in Afghanistan understand this peace right now? It may be difficult to grasp in a moment when you are in grave danger. However, many maryters of the past came to full understanding of God's peace as they burned at the stake. 

The trial of their faith being more precious than gold refined in the fire. 

To top off this blessing, God does something that he seems to love doing. He gives us his Name. Are you a Christ one? You will remember that being called a Christian was not a compliment? It was a tag for nutty people. They were just like little Jesus'. And you remember what happened to him! 

God will give us a new name and this happens again in the Book of the Revelation (2:17, 3:12). 

So you see, passing on this blessing is a good thing to do. It shows love and hope from the giver to the receiver. Pass it on. 

Oh, and Gesundheit, that means "health and blessings". Did you know that?