Blessed Obedience
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Jesus’ words in John 10:10
Sin has consequences. So does obedience.
In Deuteronomy 28 God promises blessings for those who obey His commandments. 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 bringing rain in season and blessing the work of your hands.
From these verses we can see that the blessings don’t mean we won’t work, the work of our hands is something God blesses. They do not mean that our enemies won’t attack, but they will be defeated and flee.
Do we turn from these blessings because we don’t believe God will give them or don’t we know about them? Either way, we do turn from them. Every time we knowingly step into sin or refuse to give up some sin, we are letting God know we are not interested in His blessings.
Overtaken by Blessing
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! In verse 2 of Deuteronomy 28 God tells the Israelites, “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.”
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.
Take a moment and consider the implications of that word, “overtake.” Doesn’t it imply pursuit and catching up with someone who is fleeing?
We (I) don’t have any trouble understanding the idea that God’s curses will pursue and overtake us(me) if we sin / disobey. But Scripture doesn’t say that if we obey God is pleased to just leave us alone. Neither should we be pleased to be left alone by God. His blessings are as persistent as His curses and will overtake us just as surely.
Promoting Christ to King of All
Receiving these blessings may take a change of thinking for some of us. 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 had our best interest in mind when He gave us His commands. It means taking the understanding that Jesus is King in my heart and promoting Him to the position of King of my life, and in fact, King over all of life.
The consequence for obedience to a good King is blessing which is much more fun to think about than the consequences of sinning against a just judge. Both must be considered as God in Christ is both.
Without denying the curses, can we intentionally work for and tell others about the blessing?