God is blessing us every day. We enjoy daily food, clothing, a home, peace, family, friends, and many other positive things. One might think, how can that be blessings, as for some of those blessings we worked hard, still others came our way without us doing much.

But even when we worked for it, circumstances, like living in a place like Bermuda, being brought up by parents who cared for us, receiving a good education and similar things are an advantage, a blessing. Blessings are not just results, but opportunities and circumstances.

At the same time, the Bible teaches us, that when God blesses people, he has more in mind than just one person. We can see that very clearly with Abram, later called Abraham.

When God called him and encouraged him to leave his home and go to a place God would show him, he said in Gen 12:2-3 (NIV): “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on Earth will be blessed through you.”

God blessed Abram and made his offspring into a great nation. In Genesis 14 we read, that he had 318 trained men in his household, plus their families. All of them depended on Abram and his decisions.

Abram became a blessing himself, for those who lived in his house, those who he interacted with on his travels, and through him, until today, all peoples on Earth are blessed. Thus God’s blessing reached far beyond Abram. When God blesses us, it is not just about us.

Abram was very knowledgeable about water engineering and he was very successful. He had dug many wells from the North of Canaan to the edge of the desert in Beersheba, and they are mentioned several times in the Bible.

While he needed the water for his herds when he moved through the country, other people and shepherds were able to use them as well. For people who live in very dry countries like the Middle East wells are very important. We in Bermuda can appreciate it as well.

However, Abram brought even more blessings to the people with his wisdom and generosity. He helped the people of Sodom and Gomorrah first when they were conquered by opposing kings and lead away, among them his nephew Lot.

After beating the other army with his men and an alliance he had, he did not accept any reward or bounty from the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. Later he tried to help them again when he bargained with God to have mercy on them if he only could find even ten righteous people there and not destroy the towns where the Dead Sea is today.

Bermuda has great people

On Wednesday, The Royal Gazette reported on the feeding programme of Christ Church Warwick. Like in some other churches in Bermuda, people volunteer or support those programmes faithfully.

Sharing your food with those who are hungry is a motive that we find several times in the Bible, both in the Old and in the New Testament. Ordinary people, sometimes in need themselves, shared the blessings they had.

When there was an ongoing drought in Israel, a widow with a son shared her very last food with the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17). As a consequence, God made sure her jar would not go empty and she was spared starvation.

Jesus encouraged his disciples and a young boy to share the five loaves of bread and two small fish they had with 5,000 people, and all had a fill. By sharing the blessings we have we can bless the world around us.

All we need to do is overcome the fear it might not be enough for us. Think about it, we can become agents of God’s blessings. Jesus, the Light of the World (John 8:12), shared this blessing with his followers telling them: “You are the light of the World. Let your light shine.”

Blessings grow when we share them. There are so many individuals and organisations that prove this.

The Salvation Army, for example, is caring for those who often are forgotten and marginalised, by preparing meals, offering shelter, or organising programmes like “Come to the Well” for seniors who live alone.

My wife Diana supported those programmes as social worker. I hope this column I write every week without compensation might be a blessing to some. That is my motivation for writing.

Blessings will grow when we begin to share them. Isn’t that an incredible promise? God’s blessings, whether wealth, talent, or ideas, can be put to use for the good of others, while hoarded blessings become wasted blessings.

Jesus talks about that in the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12: 13-21. After a bumper harvest the rich fool only can think of how he can store his wealth in new barns so he can retire afterwards in peace.

However, the parable ends with the following words: “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards God.”

Be rich towards God

Let us become rich towards God and trust God who has blessed us in the past, that he will not let us fall or slip away. We can use the blessings to learn to trust this God, to truly have faith and thus become rich towards God.

We don’t have to be super rich to share our blessings. Remember the feeding of the 5,000? In John 6:9 (Good News Translation) we learn: “There is a boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two fish. But they will certainly not be enough for all these people.” God can bless many even through little. It started with a little boy who shared his lunch.

It does not even have to be charity, it can be just being fair and helpful in our daily dealings and work. Offering a job opportunity can be a blessing shared. Working in turn to your full capacity is a blessing for customers and boss.

Charging fair prices for needed products is sharing the blessings. Renting apartments and houses for affordable rent, is sharing the blessings. In short, when there is a win-win situation, it is a blessing shared, instead of trying to get rich at the cost of others.

When we share our blessings, something miraculous can happen. It can change our world. When that happens, it is a good deal.

On another occasion (Luke 14: 12-14, NIV), Jesus told his listeners: “ … When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.

“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

• Karsten Decker was the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Bermuda from 2010 to 2017, and after returning from Germany is now the temporary pulpit supply at Centenary United Methodist Church in Smith’s