READ: Genesis 22:1-18
“The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” – Proverbs 10:22 (ESV)
You will have to expend energy if you want to lay hold on a blessing. The Bible has many examples. Abraham was more than a hundred years old when he was called of the Lord and had to climb a mountain to lay hold on his blessings. If you are not prepared to work hard for your blessing, you are not going to receive it.
Abraham was not trying to be rich. He obeyed God because he was trying to be blessed. There is a big difference between trying to be blessed and trying to be rich. Sometimes, the effort to lay hold on a blessing may look like madness. Remember the secret: the blessing of the Lord makes rich (Proverbs 10:22). Why aim for riches when you can aim for a blessing?
Isaac was equally obedient to God. He was asked to stay in a particular country and sow in the land. He started a huge farm just so he could please God. Neither Abraham nor Isaac had a vision to be rich. They had a vision to obey God, and they ended up becoming rich.
Jacob had to kill a goat and grill it for his father Isaac in order to be blessed. He worked very hard because his mother told him to. It is not the wealth that Jacob had but rather his father’s blessing that has made Israel what it is today. Jacob’s wealth disappeared long ago, but the blessing has persisted through the centuries.
A blessed man will have blessed children. Wealth and riches will be in the house of a blessed person. A blessed man will be righteous forever.