Deuteronomy 28:1-13 Selected (NKJV)
28 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:
3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country……
increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.…… 12 The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I [Moses] command you today, and are careful to observe them.
Since He created everything, He knows how it all was made and the best way of doing things. When you do things God’s way, it all works out well for you. In fact, you will be blessed if you follow His lead.
Moses spoke to the people of Israel telling them about all the blessing that were in store for them if the followed God’s word written out for them I the Law. The Lord would set them high above all the nations and blessings would overtake them. The list of blessings is impressive. He also told them, in later verses, of the consequences of not following. The key point was to heed the commandments of the Lord and observe them. It is still the same for us today. God is waiting to pour out His blessings on us if we would but obey.
Do you want to live a life of blessing? Most do. Are you willing to learn and follow God’s Word? Many say the Bible is irrelevant today. I do not agree. The Bible is all about relationships and nothing has changed in that area. Thousands of years ago, Cain killed able because he was jealous. We have jealousy today. The Bible speaks of how we should live. Since it was written by the Creator of the universe and everything in it, He knows what we need. He knows how we are formed. It is our Owner’s Manual.
There is an impressive list of blessings in today’s verses:
You will be blessed no matter where you are.
You enemies will be defeated before you.
You flocks will be increased.
You will be blessed at all times.
The Lord will bless all to which you set your hand.
The Lord will bless your land.
The Lord will open to you His good treasure.
The Lord will bless all the work of your hand.
You shall lend and not borrow.
You shall always be the head.
You shall always be above.
And there are more blessings in those verses. I would ask you to go and read it for yourself. In fact, why not copy it and put it up on your wall to help you remember all the Lord desires to do for you? He loves you that much. But what does He desire of you? He desires that you walk in His ways. That is not always easy. First, you will have to know His ways. To do that, you need to read His Word. While there are many warnings in the Bible, (Don’t do this or that) there are incredible blessings written on the pages. These are promises and God is faithful. He will deliver! Do you want to be blessed? Do you have what it takes to follow? The even better news is that the Holy Spirit, which is in you, will remind you of all of God’s ways and help you to walk in them if you are willing. Go ahead! Walk with the Lord. The rewards are beyond all you can ask or imagine.
Lord God, we desire to do your will. There are those who would tempt us differently. By Your Spirit, remind us of all You offer and help us to walk with You in Your ways! In Your name we pray! Amen!