Blessed

I hear all the time that we want "God to bless us." And, so, people pray for God's blessing as if prayer is some magic dust that when sprinkled on top of our lives it can erase all of our behavior. James says that simply is not the case. He says the following on blessing, "But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do." It's real simple, just not easy. Do you want to be blessed? Begin to live out God's principles in your life. It will set into motion the built in good consequences (blessings). Why would God bless an area of your life that you have lived in open opposition to His teachings? Would you bless your child if he lived in open opposition to your desires? No! And, yet, we think we can "force" God into blessing us. Quite silly. Worse than silly, it is insulting. The easiest and most straight forward way to invite God into an area of our life is not by prayer. It's by asking God His opinion on the subject and then agreeing with Him and living by it. I am not suggesting that prayer is not an ingredient. But, let's quit thinking that our actions have no consequences. Do you want to be blessed? Just do IT!