When I was a kid, my parents were certain that I had a hollow leg. I ate everything. And had seconds on most things. I was a human garbage disposal that was glad to eat any and everything. I was a card carrying member of the clean plate club. But, I also helped the rest of my family join the team by eating what was left on their plate. 

And I never gained an ounce of weight…

Those were the days. Ha! I look at the dessert menu today and I add a couple of pounds. 

Part of it was that, in those days of my youth, I never stopped. I was running around from the moment I woke up to the moment my head hit the pillow. I was nonstop. But, it was the other part that I miss today. 

Do you remember the days when you had a metabolism that worked fast?

Metabolism is the process of turning food into energy. It is the cellular activity your body does to help you to live. Metabolism is the molecular work of turning the things you eat into the capacity to live. It gives your heart the strength to pump blood; your muscles the ability to flex and relax; and your brain the capacity to make connections and recall memories. Metabolism is essential. And it is part of the reason for your doctor’s insistence on eating a balanced and healthy diet. “You are what you eat” after all. Metabolism makes this true. Your metabolic work can only use what you put into your system.

The same is true in our faith. Faith is our metabolism. It is the Spirit given ability for us to receive the goodness of God and to put it into use in our lives. Faith recognizes God’s work. And Faith enables us to partner with the Lord in ministry. Faith enables you to process the world around you and the world within you. And it is Faith that leads you forward through your life.

So, the question becomes, what are you inputting into your system of metabolic faith? Is it the good things of God? Or is it something less than God’s best and beautiful?

You’ve heard me teach on Genesis 12 before. I believe it to be one of the most pivotal chapters in all of Scripture. The call of Abraham is God’s righteous act to bring the people of God back together. And, the mechanism for this unifying work is blessing. “I will bless you and you will bless others.” This is the relationship between the Father and Abraham and Abraham with all those he comes across. 

This is Abraham’s (and your) metabolic process. We receive blessings from God and we turn around and give those blessings to others. It plays out throughout the rest of Scripture. God blesses. God’s people bless others. Of course, the human elements of this equation are the ones who get it wrong. A lot. But, when it is working well, this is a beautiful process where we receive the goodness of God, internalize it for ourselves and give this goodness to others. 

It is simple and beautiful to evaluate, as well. How are you doing at identifying the blessings of God that come your way? And, what are the fruits of blessing that you are giving to others?

August always brings a back to school blessing for our school aged children and school staff and teachers. What a gift it is to bless these people as they had back to school. Our communal act of blessing our school-goers is good practice for us. It is reminding us that one of our chief actions in this world is to bless others.

How will you be a blessing? How will you share words of affirmation and love? How will you honor and celebrate someone else. In what ways can you express gratitude to someone for the good things you see God doing in their life?

Bless someone today. It really isn’t that hard. And making a practice of doing this daily, really makes things different in the world around us.