This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. DEUTERONOMY 33:1
Chapter 33 gives us the last recorded words of Moses. The whole chapter is full of blessing. Moses was raised in the palace of Egypt. He was surrounded by opulence and wealth. Is that what it means to be blessed?
Around age 40, everything changed for Moses. He had to leave Egypt, and for the next 40 years he scratched out a living as a shepherd in the desert. For 40 years he experienced life at its best in this world, and for 40 years he experienced life at its hardest in this world.
Then everything changed again. God called Moses to confront Pharaoh, to lead the people through the Red Sea, to climb Mount Sinai, and to stand in the presence of Almighty God. For 40 years, Moses experienced God as nobody else had known Him.
After all that, here is Moses’ conclusion: The greatest blessing in life is to know God Himself. He says to God’s people: I’ve seen life at its best, and I’ve known it at its worst, and I am telling you, nobody else has what you’ve got!
“Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD?” (Dt. 33:29).
Here’s why you are blessed: You are saved. Let that sink in. Saved! Not being saved, not hoping to be saved. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Not only are you saved, but you are saved by the Lord. He has seen your plight. He has come down to deliver you. He has committed Himself to you forever.
The greatest blessing in life is to know God. Jesus said: “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
How does this help shape your thinking about what it means to be blessed?
Written by Colin Smith
Read by Sue McLeish
