“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.” Jeremiah 17:7 NLT
There were a few verses that stood out to me in today’s chapter, but I narrowed them down to this one. Quite often when we use the word bless, blessed, or blessing, we tend to use them in the sense of a reward. But when you look up the definition of the word blessed, it means to be made holy or consecrated.
Yes, when we follow the Lord we will be rewarded. Just as when we choose not to speed our reward is not being served with a ticket. However, when our belief in the Lord is so firm that we trust Him in everything we do, we will walk in His ways and become more like Him. When we realize that we can not do life on our own strength but make the Lord our hope, we become deeply rooted in Him, allowing Him to be our comfort as we abide to His path.
Living in continual obedience to the Lord draws us closer to Him and more like Him. In that process we are blessed – not just with rewards, but made holy and consecrated. May our prayer be for the Lord to purify our hearts, to remove all impurities, and to make us holy, preparing us to do His will.
Lock Your Wings 
There were a few things that stood out for me too but especially this: “Do not do your work on the Sabbath, but make it a holy day. I gave this command to your ancestors, but they did not listen or obey. They stubbornly refused to pay attention or accept my discipline. “‘But if you obey me, says the Lord, and do not carry on your trade at the gates or work on the Sabbath day, and if you keep it holy,”
Jeremiah 17:22-24 NLT
Having just come off a busy weekend (where we did not take a Sabbath day) my whole week seemed off. We need rest (and even God rested) and we suffer when we don’t take it.
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I am constantly doing battle in my mind and in my writing to be careful in how I use words, that I don’t misuse them or throw them around like confetti at a wedding. With this on my mind lately I was thrilled to read your post today with relation to “blessedness” in all its forms. It certainly is a word that is used cheaply in Christian correspondence without much thought. Thank you for part in guiding my word usage for Him.
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Yes, it is a word we use quite often (myself included) and need to be mindful in not cheapening its value.
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