Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. – Genesis 28:14 

Scripture reading: Genesis 28:10-22

Have you ever thought, “God cannot use me to spread the Word of God?” Or perhaps you’ve thought, “I do not have this ability. I am still struggling in my Christian life.”

Jacob was a human being like us. He was a struggling follower of God. He had just lied in a very despicable way to his father in order for his father to bless him. He was running for his life, afraid that his older brother would kill him. He was all alone with nothing going for him. Or so he thought. It was at this difficult time that God showed Himself, not only to bless Jacob but to inform him that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him and his offspring. Whenever God comes to His people and blesses them, He does this so that they would also be a blessing to others.

God would lead and protect Jacob so that he would become the father of a nation from which the Saviour of the world would come. Because of that, people from all over the world would be blessed including you today through faith in Jesus Christ.

Although the blessings God has promised you are somewhat different than what Jacob heard from God, there is a similarity. You see, God was thinking of you when He blessed Jacob, but He was also thinking of others who would be blessed through your faith in Jesus Christ as you witness of your Lord and Saviour.

Suggestions for prayer

Pray that you would grow in your understanding of the great blessing you have in Jesus Christ, being part of His body to bring blessings to those around you.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Richard Bultjes is pastor at a church plant in Niagara Falls, Ontario, called River of Life. The painting, “Jacob’s dream” (1639) is by José de Ribera.