“I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Gen 22,16-18)

God spontaneously blesses that which bears His character. This has just been demonstrated it in its fullness in Abraham, and therefore God pronounces upon him the greatest blessing He has bestowed on anyone in this life. It exceeds all previous ones - it no longer concerns only his offspring, the multiplication of the race and the formation of a nation; God will literally bless the whole world through him. It is, of course, a reference to the blessed seed, the beloved son of Isaac - Christ, who will be given as an eternal blessing to the whole world, not just Israel. 

Most of the time we assume that God blesses specific people and the motive is that he (so-called) loves them. We wonder how to make even a drop of his blessing rest on us. But often this is just a mental shorthand, corresponding more to a conception of love in the world around us that has nothing to do with spiritual reality. For God first and foremost blesses what is his, what bears his character, what has his essence. Such a person, work, or church receives God's blessing essentially immediately and without the need to scramble for it in prayer. The key is to be in harmony with God. After all, God wants to bless; it is one of the main characteristics of His heart! But alas, he often does not finds many to bless. For the whole of Scripture shows how he ceases to bless that which is contrary to his heavenly character, that which is out of his nature, that which is in rebellion to him. Why should he do this? For to what ends would it lead? 

The most important foundation for the way of blessing is therefore the word given to Abraham: "...because you have obeyed my voice". Let us add that not as someone who obeys, however, in essence disagrees with what he does. But as someone who acts from the heart because he is inwardly tuned in on the same wavelength with God. Such a person experiences his obedience as freedom.