“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.” – Genesis 12:2

There is a new daily discipline of blessing in my life thanks to the social media phenomenon that is sweeping the world.

I take a quick peek at whose birthday is happening among my friends on a certain network. Then a send them a special greeting, a video link, and some sort of blessing accompanied by my personal prayer for them.

In turn, I am blessed.

It costs me nothing, but it is like sharing gems of joy, precious stones of promise, and jewels of affection. It is about blessing and some folks write me back to say that it was just the right word at just the right time.

We are blessed in this life to be a blessing. In blessing, we are blessed more and encouraged to bless more and the pattern continues as the blessings grow.

These blessing stones are building a grace house that can shelter many from the storms of life and last through the fiery trials of life and the ultimate test of judgment.

1 Corinthians 3:12 says a firm foundation of faith has already been laid, but adds, “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones …” that “the day” will declare it. It will be revealed by fire.

Fire destroys lesser materials – wood, hay, stubble, but refines precious gems and stones much as we are refined by giving and receiving blessings and encouragement from God to and through others.

God called Abraham to be blessed and to be a blessing. He calls us in the same way. That is what makes us most precious. Let us build on that.