The Blessings of Obedience

 God's commands are not to restrict us. They are to set us free. They are not to keep us down, but to see us lifted up. They are not to make us unhappy by not allowing us to do what everyone else does. They are to help us to be happy, because we are doing what is best for us. Most people fight against doing God's will in His way, but they are destroying their lives as they do that. God wants to bless us.

Moses gave the instructions to the people once again before they entered the Promised land by having them write all of the instructions on large plastered stoned for all to see and remember. Then, he had the tribes divide up to pronounce the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. He wanted to make sure the people did God's will this time. (Deuteronomy 28:1,6) He made it clear that if they would fully obey God's commands, they would be raised up above other nations, and God would bless them in all they would do. There is a lesson for us here.

God's commands lead to wisdom and even to prosperity. They lead us to see the right ways to do what we need to do in our lives. As we obey them, we see the benefit of doing things well, and God blesses us for our loving obedience to Him. When a country goes by God's instructions, the same thing happens for a country. However, this passage in Deuteronomy 28 shows that the opposite is also true. When a country goes away from God's instructions, the country is brought very low.

When we are talking about individuals and families, the same is true. God will bless us wherever we go and whatever we do, as we obey Him. I have seen it in the life of my parents and our family. They were not perfect by any means, but they went by God's instructions, and God provided all we needed and more. The same has been true for me and Chris and our family. We did not do everything right, but we had a heart to obey God's instructions, and we benefited from doing things His way. Then, He poured His blessings on top of that. I would urge all of us to do the same every day.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 29-31.