The Path to Blessings
ICS Daily Devotions
Deuteronomy 28:1-2,7-8 (NKJV) 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. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:…. “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. “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.
All parents want the best for their children. God wants the same for us because He is a good Heavenly Father. In the Old Testament, God’s people operated under the Mosaic Covenant, a conditional covenant stipulating that if they obeyed God’s laws and commands, they would be blessed, but if they disregarded them, curses would befall them. This is why God asked them to heed His voice and Word.
Deuteronomy 28:15-68 contain a long list of curses. If the people violated the law or disobeyed God’s voice, curses would come upon them, affecting almost every aspect of their lives. For instance, they would be defeated by their enemies, experience no rest, and suffer from sicknesses, tumours, scabs, and boils; their ways would not be prosperous, nor would they achieve success.
On the other hand, the opening passage describes how God would prosper His people if they walked in His ways and refrained from following or worshipping other gods. God would fight for them, and they would witness how the enemies were brought into confusion. One would chase a thousand, and two Israelites would chase ten thousand when the Lord fought for them. They would have peace in the land.
Joshua 1:8 (NKJV) This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Joshua 1:8 says they would be prosperous and successful if they meditated on the Word and did what God taught them. There would be peace in the land when they walked with God; they would enjoy long lives without war, sickness or calamities, and blessings would overtake them because they obeyed God’s voice. They would be favoured by God and be held in high esteem by men because others could see that they were blessed. Indeed, when men’s ways please the Lord, even the enemies are at peace with them.
We, today’s believers, operate under the New Covenant, but that doesn’t mean we won’t reap what we have sown in the flesh. If we sow to the flesh, living independently from God, we will reap corruption and all accompanying consequences, but if we sow to the Spirit, we will reap the abundant life of love, joy, peace, and all that we need in life without any sorrows added to it.
Sermon Series: Wise Saying
