Chinese New Year or the spring festival is the most important festival of the lunar calendar. There will be family reunions and much exchange of well wishes. As Christians, we carry a special blessing from God above the usual new year wishes to our families through the Aaronic or priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24-26:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
   The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Our Sunday sermons have spoken of the significance of this Aaronic blessing. When we bless others with this blessing, we are in fact bestowing God's threefold blessing on them, whether they know the Lord personally or not.

“The Lord bless you and keep you”: We define blessing as coming from God who alone is able to keep them from the evil of the world.

“The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you” : Defines the blessing more closely as the manifestation of the favor and grace of God. The face of God is the personality of God – omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, lovingkindness, merciful, etc., drawing the heart in need of salvation and making it the recipient of His grace.

“The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace”: Sets forth the blessing of God as manifestation of power, the end of which is Shalom. Shalom is not just the absence of conflict but the sum of all good which God prepares for His people.