Mar 20 (Daily reading: Deuteronomy 28-29) “Now it shall come to pass” (or) “Now it shall be” (28:1, NKJV, NASB). These words from the Bible are exciting because they herald a promise from God! Moses continued, “And all these blessings will come to you and reach you if you obey the LORD your God” (28:2). Moses then used the word “blessed” ten times in verses 3-12.
We hear often in Lubbock, “Have a blessed day!” I hope that never becomes as common place as “Howdy,” “Have a good one,” or even, “Hey!” Putting the word blessed in the greeting makes it special because blessings originate with God! We cannot be blessed without Him! I think it is best expressed in verse 6: “Blessed will you be when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.” God has our back coming and going! So we joyfully accept God’s terms: “Do not turn aside from (God’s word), to the right or the left, to pursue other gods to serve them” (28:14).
The rest of chapter 28 describes the consequences of disobedience. Some might say that takes away the joy because God is forcing us to be obedient. But this is God’s grace; the Bible gives ample warnings of what a Godless life looks like. If you say to your son, “You are grounded from media for three days because you didn’t clean up the garage” when you had never told him to do the job, would he be right in saying that’s not fair? Chapter 29 ends with “…the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, so that we may follow all the words of this Law.” God reveals to us the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience so that we can make good choices in this abundant life we are living.
– Al Gary
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