The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” So shall they put My name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:22-27 ESV)
Bless and Keep
The first part of God’s blessing through Aaron is a statement of fact, more than a promise. God is not promising to bless us and keep us. God is saying He DOES bless us and IS keeping us.
The two go hand in hand. Because of the gracious nature of our salvation, we are blessed by God not as a reward, but as a result of the salvation that He has given to us.
To be saved IS to be blessed. To be saved is more than a naïve hope of heaven someday (as fantastic a hope as that is!) But rather, to be saved is to experience God’s favor NOW, God’s smile NOW, God’s goodness NOW.
And these NOW blessings are not contingent on us. He blesses AND keeps us.
Because we are His… not because He is ours.
What a blessing it is that He keeps us.