Sneezing is a natural, and admittedly gross, part of life. Our bodies do this to remove something that is irritating to the nose. A sneeze can push the irritant out at 100mph, and the spray can travel up to 30 feet. Typically when someone sneezes, it is considered polite to respond by saying “bless you.” But why do we respond this way? No one knows the origin of this saying for sure, but many people believe it originated during the Bubonic Plague. Saying “God Bless You” may have been a small prayer for God to protect people from dying. It also may have originated from ancient beliefs that a sneeze could expel your spirit from your body. Saying bless you helped prevent a person from losing their soul.
While the Bible may not give much direction on blessing sneezes, it does make it clear that we are supposed to bless God. The word “bless” literally means to speak good things about someone. Blessing God is a way of expressing praise and adoration for who He is and what He has done. It involves showing our awe and gratitude for Him through words and actions. 1 Peter 1:3-12 gives us three results of God’s saving work that serve as three reasons to bless Him. Today we’ll look at the first reason.
3 Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. — 1 Peter 1:3-5
- We bless God for a living hope
Our hope is not superstitious, but a certain expectation of the complete fulfillment of God’s promises. Our hope is in the salvation Christ has secured through His death and resurrection. It is a living hope because Jesus is our living Savior.
- We bless God for a future inheritance
Our inheritance as believers is eternal life… in the full presence of our heavenly Father. Even when this life is difficult, we can continue to bless God as we look forward to something much greater that can never be taken away.
- We bless God for a completed salvation
Salvation in the Bible means we are safe from the wrath of God on the day of judgement. We experience salvation now, but it is fully expressed when we leave this world and arrive in our eternal home.
We have many reasons to praise God with adoration and awe. Because God has blessed us, namely through salvation, we should direct our focus to Him and live our lives in a way that says “Bless you.”