Bless You

What are we saying when we say God Bless to someone?  Are we asking God to bless them in a special way or are we saying it because it's easy and polite?  Lets look at what the Bible says about blessing.

In the verses below, God is blessing Abraham for his obedience.

Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Gen 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

Gen 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Isaac wanted his brother's blessing and stole it from his dying father.  He later paid the price of agony in his heart for working against the Lord.

Gen 27:30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end oflessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting

Then we get to Job, who had seven sons and 3 daughters.  He offered burnt offerings for their sins and asked God's blessing and forgiveness upon his children.

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Job 1:2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

Job 1:3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

Job 1:4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Job 1:5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

There are so many instances in the Bible where God offers his blessing and His people ask for blessing.  It all seems so serious.  It is serious.  When we say "God Bless You" we are asking God to rain His blessing down upon the person or persons we are speaking to.  His blessing is the most wonderful thing we could have in our lives. 

Rom 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

Why would we bless those who persecute us?  They need that blessing more than we do.  How much hurt is in their lives that they must do something to hurt others?  Wouldn't the blessing of the Lord make their lives better?  Maybe they still aren't going to be our friends, but we have offered the best for them - a blessing from the Almighty.  We can't know when or where that offered blessing may change a life.