Blessing or cursing

One of the early characters in the Bible is Abraham. God shows up on the welcome mat outside his tent one day and says:
“I'll make you a great nation and bless you. I'll make you famous; you'll be a blessing.
I'll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I'll curse. All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12: 1, 2 The Message) Blessing is defined as: a special favor, mercy, or benefit.
Probably a bit of a shock to the old guy (after all, he was 75!), and he followed God's instruction to pack up everything and head out, destination unknown. He started in Iraq, and ended up being the father of the Jewish people.
The concept of those verses is often used to help us recognize the purpose of God's blessing on us—we are blessed to be a blessing.
In other words, receiving God's favor isn't the end, it is to be recognized as the beginning of our own journey. He loves us, so that we will love others. He grants us His mercy and favor so that we will in turn pass it along to others.
In fact, the idea of: “All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you” is used as an encouragement for us to make a difference in the whole world, not just our own backyard.
That is all well and good, but as I was reading “The story we find ourselves in” by Brian McLaren, I was struck with a third part of these verses.
1.God blesses us
2.We will be a blessing
3.He will bless those who bless us, and curse those who curse us.
As McLaren clarifies in the book, we need to consider the idea of 'cursing' as being the withholding of blessing, not necessarily as a wish for evil or calamity. The opposite of doing good might be no worse than not doing good.

Here's the thought that struck me: We can get on the wrong side of God's blessing if we aren't blessing others.
For example: If you had been on the outs with Abraham, and not blessed him, God says He would have cursed you (not blessed you). Even if you are a decent guy, worshiping God, etc., you would have missed out on some pretty good blessings if you weren't blessing Abraham.
Make sense?
Now, how about today.
We know God loves everyone. Even (or especially) the ones we figure are pretty bad sinners.
So, if God was out knocking on tent doors today, He might well be visiting someone you don't think deserves His blessing. But He still wants to bless people.
So He might visit a prostitute, or a murderer, or a shady investment broker. Or the pastor of a church you don't agree with. Or your gay co-worker. Or someone else that your theology tells you needs to repent.
And when He visits them, you have to admit that He loves them, desires the best for them, and may well say:
“I'll make you a great nation and bless you. I'll make you famous; you'll be a blessing.
I'll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I'll curse. All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you.”
Now when He offers to bless them, but curse those who curse them, you really don't want to be the one who curses them. You would be much better off being the one who is blessing them.
I don't think I need to say more.
Now go out, and be a blessing.
To absolutely anyone.
God doesn't play favorites.
Neither should we.