It matters who “blesses” you, who gives you a taste of the good life. I have found that people who have something you don’t, but want something you have will give you samples to draw you in.

It could be access to people who can get you into places you couldn’t get into on your own. It could be a taste of luxury—fine foods, fancy cars, brand name clothes, exposure to high living. Or maybe you get a sample of celebrity life. You learn what it is like for all eyes to be on you and to constantly receive accolades. Or it doesn’t have to be glamorous or extravagant, something as simple as being noticed and feeling appreciated.

You won’t realize until later the cost of your “blessings”. 

After you tasted these things, how do you return to the mundane? When you have experienced the euphoria of being on top of the world, it is not easy nor desirable to go back. You don’t want oodles of noodles and hot dogs after a diet of steak and shrimp. It’s no longer enough to drive your paid-in-full Honda Accord after you saw people’s expressions change when you exited a Mercedes or BMW. Who wants to go back to obscurity after tasting stardom?

“If your blessing does not bring out the best in you, maybe it’s not really a blessing.”

Now, from a spiritual perspective, lets consider who is responsible for your “blessings”.

If God is the one who blessed you, your experiences will challenge both you and your faith to come up higher. They will develop your character and edify your spirit. They are given freely for you to enjoy, but also with the responsibility of being a blessing to others.

All that is required of you is to remember your God who blessed you. Remember Him in the things you do—not just for yourself, but for others—and remember Him in what you say. Let your life be a praise. In return, God will bless you with even more.

However, if the devil exposed you to this (through other people, of course), the price is much higher. He requires you to give up something way more precious than what he gave you. He wants your soul and will deceive and manipulate you to forfeit yours as well as deliver him others.

He will make you obsessed with what he “blessed” you with. You will lie to yourself and to others and compromise your standards and everything you believe in, and it’ll all be justified in your eyes. It’ll look and feel like the right thing to do and make sense. You’ll have your high for awhile, then you reach a miserable low where everything that gave you pleasure only causes pain.

It takes a moment of clarity for you to realize that what he gave you was not a blessing after all, and when you do, you discover it’s not so easy to walk away. You’re locked in a lifestyle that won’t let you quit. You need deliverance.

And because God is merciful, He will save you out of your mess if you ask Him and believe. You may lose some things in order to gain. With Him the way up is down and it’ll be difficult at first. But ultimately, you will be free to live a life truly blessed.

So, in response to the old adage that says, Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, it all depends on the hand.

—D.L. Lunsford