Be Truly Blessed
Scripture: Luke 11:27-28 (ESV) 27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Devotion: What does it mean to be blessed? Often, we associate blessing with material prosperity, health, happiness, or success. We may think God blesses us when He gives us what we want or need. But Jesus teaches us a different perspective on blessing in this passage. He was teaching the crowds about the kingdom of God, and a woman in the crowd praised His mother, Mary, for giving birth to Him. She must have thought that God highly blessed Mary for being chosen to bear the Messiah. And indeed, Mary was blessed in that sense (Luke 1:42-45). But Jesus did not affirm her remark. Instead, He pointed to a higher blessing available to anyone following Him. He said, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the ...