Blessings

Blessings

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. 2 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2, NLT).

God desires to bless His people. If you read the rest of this chapter in Deuteronomy, you will discover that He desires to bless the work of our hands–keep us safe and secure–bless us with unending provision–bless us with victory over what comes against us, and reward us continuously. In verse 13 we read, “ If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom” (NLT). God wants to honor us with an humble authority. He wants us at the top...not at the bottom! How do we receive these blessings? By obeying His Word and applying His truth in every area of our lives.

God wishes us to live “intentionally”–not just haphazardly with no direction and purpose. He knows that without His guidance and our obedience we will perish. So often we are just this way! We live laid-back casual lives expecting God to bless and praying for God to bless. We see no result because we have made no effort. Obedience means sacrifice, and it means surrender. It costs our selfishness, and it costs our pride. But if we intentionally follow God's direction at all times and in all places, He promises that we will experience the gift of His blessings. He longs to bless our commitment to seek Him and follow His heart. His yearns to pour into our lives that which will prosper and keep us protected. He yearns to bless and keep us safe (Numbers 6:24). We discover His blessings when we learn that in becoming less, we can become more.

We must never regard our obedience as the means to receive His blessings! Our obedience is not a price to be paid in order to get something in return! Our intentional obedience comes from a surrendered heart that loves God. What He bestows in our lives is not something that He owes us. His blessings are always His gift. They are the expression of His love. If we faithfully and continually live obedient lives, our relationship with our Savior brings blessings–not from our efforts, but out of richness of His mercy and grace. He desires for each one of us to live an abundantly full and rich life (John 10:10). May we fully and completely surrender not in order to receive, but in order to give away and share those blessings... to share of His bounty and unending love for us (Deuteronomy 28:10). And that is a whole other lesson!