As Christians too often we use Christian jargon to say things that we don’t really mean, and I’m the chief of sinners here. How many of us have ever said, or written in an e-mail, “I’ll be praying for you,” but then never do? If we intend to pray, we often don’t actually do it. And some of us simply say it as a euphemism for, “I care for you and I hope things get better.” And that’s not a bad a feeling, but then we drag God into it to sort of Christianize our sentiments.

Here’s another one, and it has to do with the word “bless”. We especially use this in our prayers. When we don’t know what else to say, we ask God to “bless” this or that. “Bless the elders and deacons tonight as they meet to discuss the budget.” What that really means is, “Keep them from getting into a fight, and help them repent quickly when they do.” Or then there’s the prayer that many of us prayed as children. “Bless mommy and daddy and all the missionaries overseas.”

Too often when we ask God to “bless” our meeting, or to “bless” our work, or to “bless” our marriage, what we really mean is this. We want God to make it go well. We want God to cause it to be smooth and easy and hassle free. We want God to give us answers to our questions, to solve our dilemmas, or at least to protect us from making too many stupid mistakes. Basically, we want ease and comfort and a stress-free existence. We view God as a genie in a bottle, and we Christianize that view with the word “bless.”

And how about when we “say a blessing” before a meal? Certainly we should thank God for all that we have, including our food, but what does it mean to “say a blessing?” I didn’t do an exhaustive look at the word “bless” (but it would be an interesting study), but I did look at a few places where Jesus blessed food before he distributed it to be eaten. He did this before he fed the 5000 (Mark 6:41), before he fed the 4000 (Mark 8:7), and before he and the disciples ate the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22). So what is Jesus doing?

I think what Jesus is doing is this. He is asking God to do more than what is physically possible with that food. With the feeding of the thousands, he asks God to do more than what that food is able to do—take a small amount of food and feed a lot of people with it. And with the Lord’s Supper, he asks God to take what is a simple meal of bread and wine and cause it bring grace to our soul. “This is my body. . . . This cup that is poured out is the new covenant in my blood.” Jesus is here in these simple elements, not physically but spiritually, present with us conveying to us all of his grace and mercy and love and forgiveness.

I think the principle is this. When Jesus blessed something, he took that which was physical and asked God to do something spiritual with it. We see it when Jesus fed the thousands. Those miracles were not about fighting hunger. Those folks were not going to starve to death if they missed lunch that day. He was asking God to use that miracle, to “bless” those loaves and fish, in such a way that the people there would see that he was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. This was not about food for their body, but food for their soul. The point of the miracle was to cause them to see that the Kingdom of God had come because the King of kings was among them.

We see it certainly in the Lord’s Supper. How odd for Jesus to hand them some bread and tell his disciples, “This is my body.” They probably thought, “That’s not his body; Jesus is standing right here in front of us. That’s just bread. What’s he talking about?” Then it got even weirder. He handed them a cup of wine and said, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus was telling his disciples that that wasn’t simply bread and wine; that was the gospel. That wasn’t simply supper; that was love. When we partake of the Lord’s Supper by faith, the Holy Spirit takes what is physical and does something spiritual with it.

We can even see this principle when the Old Testament patriarchs would pronounce a blessing on their children or grandchildren. What they were saying was this. I want God to do something spiritual with your physical life.

So, when we use the word “bless,” this is what we are supposed to mean. “Father, bless us as we enjoy this picnic.” Meaning: “Father, we don’t want this simply to be a picnic. We want you to use it to strengthen our souls through mutual encouragement.” “Father, bless us as we meet to talk about this important matter.” Meaning: “Father, we are weak and we don’t know what to do. Our natural inclination is to do what seems right and easy. But what we really want is for Jesus to be glorified and for everyone involved to see him as their only hope and greatest joy and deepest purpose.” “Father, bless the Smiths in their efforts as missionaries.” Meaning: “Father, do through the Smiths what they themselves are not capable of doing. Take their words and actions, their physical efforts, and do something spiritual and eternal through them.”

So next time you say the blessing over a meal, this is what you should mean. “Father, take this food and use it in me to do what it is not capable of doing. Use it to not simply strengthen my body but to strengthen my soul. Use it to point me and others to Jesus.”