Posts Tagged ‘Deuteronomy 28’

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.       John 10:10

Sin and obedience both have consequences. It seems that we are living in a time when we are seeing the national consequences of receiving God’s just judgment. However, many Christians continue to see His blessings.

God promises blessings for those who obey His commandments (Deuteronomy 28). He promises to bless those in the city and the fields, the fruit of the womb and the fruit of the ground, cattle and herds and baskets. He promises blessing when you come in and go out, and that enemies will be defeated and flee. There are many more, including that God will bring rain in season and bless the work of our hands.

Is it because we don’t recognize these as blessings that we refuse them in our disobedience? We turn away from them every time we knowingly step into sin or refuse to give up a sin. We communicate a lack of interest in God’s blessings.

On the other hand, when we obey the Lord, when we follow His commands, and live according to His word, His blessings will overtake us – yes, His blessings will overtake us!  Are we fleeing from them that they have to “overtake” us? God makes this promise in Deuteronomy 28:2,  “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.”

Are these blessings right there, pursuing us all the time, waiting to be poured out? Is the Holy Spirit, as He convicts us of sin, ready to shower us with blessing when we respond to His prompting… but we don’t respond?

Jesus said that He came so that we can have abundant life (John 10:10 above).  In His grace He died for our sin so we can be forgiven for past sin and turn away from future sin. Both of these put us in a position to be overtaken by blessings.

From these verses in Deuteronomy 28 we can see that the blessings do not mean we won’t work. The works of our hands are something God blesses. God’s promises of blessing also don’t mean that our enemies won’t attack, but they will be defeated. This is a blessing to remember as God’s people are “attacked” in our day.

Receiving these blessings may take a change of thinking for some. In order to trust the Lord enough to obey Him, we need to truly believe that He is good, that He is trustworthy, and that He has our best interest in mind when He gives us His commands (Hebrews 11:6; Romans 2:9-10).

It means taking the understanding that Jesus is “King in my heart” and promoting Him to the position of “King of my life.” In fact, we need to recognize that He is King over all of everyone’s life (1 Chronicles 29:11-12) and over all the earth.

God, in Christ, is both good King and just Judge, offering abundant life.  For His children, the blessings approve where we are and what we are doing. In His judgment He calls us back to a place where He can bless us again if we repent.

The life-giving blessings for obedience to a good King are so much more fun to think about (and experience) than the fearsome curses when we sin against a just Judge. (I have chosen not to list the curses but you can look at them here: Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

In either obedience or disobedience,  when we respond to the prompting of our good God, He will overtake us with blessing. Are you and I being overtaken by blessing as we obey God or facing the curses of our disobedience?

Sin and obedience both have consequences from the One who is both the Good King and the Just Judge. Will you and I choose the consequences of blessings or of curses?