Today’s Bible Reading: DEUTERONOMY 10:1-12:32
Deuteronomy 11:26
See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.
We all face a myriad of choices daily. We choose what to wear, what to eat, how to spend our down time and many more choices. The Israelites were approaching the Promised Land. Soon they would enter this next phase of their spiritual journey. But it would be different then the last 40 years. New difficulties would manifest and new decisions would be made. The Lord spoke through Moses to help prepare the people for this enormous endeavor. He directed them on what they needed to do to flourish in the future.
The Lord’s blessings arise from His favor and our faithfulness. Regardless of our response to Him, He showers humanity with His blessings. Scripture affirms that those involved in bad behavior still receive God’s blessings. Matthew 5:45 says, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Acts 14:17 agrees when it states, “Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." All these are His favorable blessing bestowed upon all people everywhere. In one way or another, we are all beneficiaries of His benevolence.
But He also bestows blessings for faithfulness. In our text Moses is addressing the people of God. He lays before them a choice. He outlines a decision that will determine their destiny. He sets before them a blessing or a curse. A blessing would be bequeathed to those who obey the Lord’s commands and a curse would befall all who disobey. They could be faithful or faithless. It was their choice. They chose their future. They determined their destiny. They could choose to live blessed or live curse.
This was a warning for them and for us. This same decree is declared to all of us. We have the same selection set before us. God offers us a blessing or a curse. Our choice will set our course. We will decide our destiny. We pick whether we will experience prosperity and peace or poverty and pain. The faithful will flourish, but the faithless will fail.
The criterion for God’s blessing upon believers is obedience. He is not talking here about an affirmation apart from action or an assertion without adherence. He is saying that belief must be accompanied by appropriate behavior. You can’t just attest that you are a follower, but not follow. God’s blessings are bestowed upon obedient believers. They are not given to those who pursue God’s blessing, but persist in sin. They are not granted to those who try hard, but remain hardened. They are not handed to those who are halfway committed. God’s blessing is for faithful followers.
The difficulty is like the Israelites, we are all deficient. None of us are perfect or can achieve perfection. Our best efforts fall short. The flesh often leads us into faithlessness. We will never be able to completely obey the commands of the Lord. Our hope of God’s blessing can never be based upon our performance. It can only be based on the obedience of another. The Bible says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” (Eph 1:3). Jesus was perfectly obedient to God’s commands (2 Cor 5:21, 1 John 3:5). We receive God’s blessing not because of our stellar behavior, but because of the sinless behavior of another. The righteousness of Jesus is placed upon us. His obedience is appropriated to us. The curse of sin is cancelled on His cross. In Christ we are blessed. In choosing Christ we chose God’s blessing. In living for Christ, we live blessed.
Today rejoice in the believer’s blessings. Thank Him that all who are in Christ receive the Lord’s blessings. Thank Him that His blessing is not contingent on our perfect obedience, but upon the perfect obedience of Christ. Ask the Lord to help you live in obedience to His commands in the power of the His Spirit. Ask the Lord to help you live blessed.
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