Thanks I agree, but honestly that is what I have been taught since I can remember and now I feel like the reason God isn't pouring blessings out upon me right now is because I haven't planted any seed, (tithes and offerings) in a long time. Ugh....Lord help me see clearly!
The language of "blessing" is a troublesome as used by some. I'd say if you want to know the Christian understanding of blessing then one should go to the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes.
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets." - Luke 20:20-23
"Blessing" is not material comfort, or even emotional comfort. The blessing we have and seek is the blessing of having Christ as our Savior, that our sins are forgiven, that we have God as our Father. That we are being saved and have hope for everlasting life in the Age to Come when God makes all things new.
Christ says, "Take up your cross, and follow Me." That is quite opposite of the promise of having goods and comforts in this life, Christ has told us that this life is a cross which we bear as we follow Him, to live our lives in love for others. Our true good in this life is the grace which we have received from God in Jesus, which has reckoned us sinners as righteous on Christ's account, and thus we have been made children of the Father, heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, having received the Holy Spirit as the guarantor and promise of hope and everlasting life--"If the Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead dwells also in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies." (Romans 8:11).
This life is not where justice and peace dwell, we look forward to that life when the Lord returns, and God sets all things right, on that Day when this is true: "let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:24) when the wolf shall lay down with the lamb, and the lion eats straw like an ox (Isaiah 65:25).
In this life we hold firm to the faith we have been given in the Gospel. That is our blessing, that is our good. We have Christ, and can confidently trust Him to keep and hold us.
-CryptoLutheran