The rewards for obedience

Deut. 30:9-14

The rewards for obedience

     Then the Lord your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hands, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle, and in the produce of your ground, for the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; if you obey the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in the book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you nor out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it that we may observe it?” But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.

     Once again I will carry on the theme of the last couple of weeks in encouraging us to humble ourselves before God and repent both for ourselves and for the nation that we might once again see His blessing in the outpouring of a great revival and the restoration of our land. God is calling upon us to once again walk by His commandments and to do what is right in His eyes. I take great encouragement and comfort when He says – These laws are not out of our reach nor do we have to travel to the ends of the earth to find them, but they are near to us. The Bible often defines sin as lawlessness, which is, disobeying or disregarding the laws of God.

     We as a people and a nation have entered into all manner of lawless behavior but the challenge before us is not the gross sins of immorality and murder but the sins of the heart where all these things have their beginning. Our enemy, the Devil is subtle and does not immediately try to get us to kill someone, but rather he infiltrates our home with a movie where the bad guy is portrayed so cruel that you actually hate him and want to see the hero annihilate him. This seems ok – it’s just a movie, not real life – however, we have just entered into the heart of the sin of murder as we desire to see him killed. I hardly need to explain that God has told us to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us and that even the angels will not bring a rebuke against the Devil who is the author of all that is wicked! We have stumbled and our houses have become unclean.

     Did you know what God said to do if a murder is committed near your town? In Deut. 21 God says that they must offer a sacrifice for forgiveness that God will not allow the curse of bloodshed to be upon their land which will uproot all the blessings that God had promised to them. However, we invite bloodshed into our very homes! We bring it in with no thought of repenting or calling upon our Savior to atone for us, therefore, God’s punishment remains upon us. Furthermore God says that we will receive the consequences of our actions regardless of whether or not we have known that what we did was wrong. A pretty strict word isn’t it? Those who repent and turn aside from looking upon evil (Inviting it into their home) will be washed clean and the Lord will make His home with them. – Isaiah 33:14-17

     Bringing God’s word back to our attention and realizing that He fully means for us to obey it is a strong message for us today. Realizing that we are tied to His promises for either blessing or cursing in regard to our obedience is a reality. -Deut. 27-28 We have been created by God in His image to be rational and responsible men and women. He deals with us in accordance with the high calling for which we have been created – to be His friends! He greatly longs for the day when we will know Him more fully and enjoy His company forever.

     My brothers and sisters, now is the time to not delay in beseeching our Heavenly Father for His mercy and compassion and to turn away from the things that cause His anger to rise against us. We need to purify our homes and walk within them in the integrity of our hearts that we might walk uprightly before Him and do the things that please Him. It’s time to go through the scriptures and refresh ourselves with the words of what He requires of us. Jesus has come to reconcile us to the Father and to give us the power of the Holy Spirit that we might throw off all bondage to sin and live by His amazing and wonderful laws.  God bless you all!