He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:28
In the midst of addressing the crowds, a woman cried out to Jesus and called out a blessing upon his mother for giving him birth and nursing him. To the ordinary this would be well received and perhaps returned with a complimentary “thank you” in reply. But Jesus chooses to bring a more central focus to the importance of whom we serve. He takes the focus off man and onto His Word and obedience to it.
I think we all welcome a good blessing every now and then. Somehow a stranger’s response to my sneeze in blessing, while kind and thoughtful, doesn’t quite do the trick. But Christ is fully sufficient and gives full blessing through obedience to Him. This does not come easy and requires full surrender of self unto the Savior in all things.
Despite it all, both good and unfortunate circumstances, Christ has declared those to be blessed – through obedience, not birth!
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. 2 John 1:6