The Blessings of Obedience

Everything under heaven is a blessing, and a heart to enjoy it, take possession of it, and to benefit from it is experiencing this blessing in its fullest form.

Blessing is defined as God’s favour and protection. In some dictionaries, it is referred as a request by someone to God to take care of a particular person, and it is something that makes a person extremely happy.

We might find people having different desires and longings. For some it might be a new home, a promotion, a school or college admission, adding new members to a family, etc, for some the blessing might be getting at least one meal a day, getting few old clothes passed on or getting to taste something different during the festive seasons, and for some it might be to just stay happy despite circumstances.

While all of us realise each of it is a blessing only God can provide and feel delighted when someone speaks such positivity into our lives, it gets extremely difficult to take possession of God’s blessings.

Entering a new annual year, birth year, or an anniversary are moments that we wait with eagerness, and embrace with happiness. Most importantly, we anticipate a new change in the year to come.

As we enter another new year, I would like to draw your attention to the passage that is most commonly read with regards to blessings in the Scriptures from Deuteronomy 28.

The first half of this Chapter focuses on the blessings that can be bestowed on a person and the second half shows the curse.

Though while reading the first part (Deuteronomy 28:1-14), the blessings upon a person who obeys the Lord’s commands are clearly stated, and the effects of not obeying is evident, the rest of the chapter emphasises the outcomes of disobedience by restating it in a different manner.

The single difference for any person to move from a level of blessing to that of curse is the trait called “Obedience”.

The Lord loves obedience and we see how great men of faith were tested for it, and we can never forget mentioning Abraham and his test of faith, and how God testified of him in Genesis 26:5, “Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws…”

It is definitely not easy to obey. Children and youngsters find it hard to obey parents, teachers, and elders, adults find it hard to obey the higher officials, congregational members find it hard to obey the clergy, and ultimately each of us find it hard to obey God.

We do have a desire to obey the Lord’s voice yet we fail many a times thus widening the gap between the blessings in store for us and ourselves.

Threefold blessings to those who obey the Lord is promised in this passage, and as we begin a new year, may we try with God’s strength to develop obedience and get hold of these blessings.

1. Preciousness:

Obeying the Lord, and following all his commands makes us precious. The Lord will set us high above the nations (v.1) and establish as His holy people (v.9). How excited would we feel if a well-respected man in the society acknowledges us? Here, is the King of the heavens and earth who will establish us as not any ordinary people, but holy people who are precious in His sight.

2. Prosperity:

Though prosperity gospel is a heresy, it is undeniable that God promises financial prosperity apart from Spiritual prosperity upon obeying Him. We must nevertheless be cautious about what we place as the “cause” and the “consequence”. The Bible warns us of how easily our hearts can get driven to prosperity though we obey the Lord (Refer Matthew 19).

3. Power:

Paying attention to the Lord’s command will make us the head and not the tail (v. 13). The Lord’s children receive power as a blessing, to stand tall, to face the people, and to show the difference.

My dear friends in Christ, as we begin this new year let us take possession of the different blessings God has gifted us with by trying to be a lot more obedient.

Let us pray for each other and strengthen one another in all our attempts of obeying the maker and the master planner of our lives. Wishing you all a blessed year ahead.

“All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God”