nd. Then what does it mean to “bless” someone? Look at how Melchizedek did it in verses 19b-20, ““…’Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.’ Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” Let’s think a little more about blessing others.
First, he turned Abram’s eyes to the God Most High. He knew that Abram was struggling spiritually and he knew that the only solution was to take his eyes off of himself and his present situation and place them squarely on God instead. God is Most High. He is more powerful than the armies of worldly kings. He can give the whole Promised Land to Abram with one swipe of his hand. Nothing is impossible with God Most High. One day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him and he said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29) Moses told the people to take their eyes off the poisonous snakes, repenting of their fears and vainly trying to save themselves, and look to the bronze snake on pole. (Nu 21:4-9) Those who look to the Son of Man, Jesus, high and exalted on the cross, will be saved. There is one hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” Verse 1 reads, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus…look full into his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.” To bless someone is to remind them of who God is and encourage them to fix their eyes on Jesus, the Creator God.
Second, he encouraged Abram to give God the credit for gaining a great victory over his enemies. Look at verse 20a, “And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Abram had indeed accomplished a great task. He defeated an army many more times the size of his own. He was an old man, but he did something that even young men could not accomplish. It was easy for him to think that in his wisdom, his strength, his leadership, and his stick-to-itiveness, he got himself the victory. To think this way is pride itself. There is a danger of thinking that we can do it all because of our own power. But the Bible says that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. (Ja 4:6) What have we got that we have not been given? Paul knew that his great spiritual successes were not from him but from God. He says in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us.” If we become proud we are in a real danger of loosing the blessings that God has brought into our lives. I thank God for Bethany Erickson. She is the girl who got her arm bitten off by a shark and became a surf champion with one arm. She stated again and again that her strength comes from Jesus Christ.
Now is the time to think about all the victories that God has brought forth. What about school? sports? relationships? jobs? career? and family? These are outward things, but what about spiritual things? Is it not a victory that you are standing as a believer in God when the whole western world seems to be falling away from Christ? What about the fact that you are growing stronger as a servant of God and his word? What about taking away fear, judgment, criticism, and despair from your heart? Did you take them away on your own? No. It is all because of Jesus and his Gospel. Today, it is time to be blessed and give all glory and honor and credit to Jesus. Part of blessing others is helping them to give all the credit and glory to God for every victory in their lives.
Melchizedek blessed Abram by helping Abram to obey God. Melchizedek’s spiritual influence was great. Look at Verse 20b, “…Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” and also Hebrews 7:4, “Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder” It was not easy for Abram to give a tenth to Melchizedek. He had the equivalent of millions of dollars. A tenth of this was tens of thousands of dollars. Most people don’t want to offer anything to God. They hold onto their last dollar as if they were on a white knuckle roller coa