There are always consequences for our choices. Often we think consequence means something bad happens when we choose poorly, but consequences can also be good things that happen when we choose to act wisely. In today’s passage we look at the consequences for obedience--the blessings that the Lord promises to Israel if they obey His commands.

Life with God is meant to be a full and flourishing one. It makes sense that there would be good things that come from living the way God calls and intends us to live. The promises of blessings remind the people of God that all good things come from His hand alone.

We notice in the accounts of the judges and kings that follow in Israel’s history that when the people seek the Lord and obey Him, they are blessed, and when they turn from the Lord, they experience trouble which urges them back to the Lord.

As believers after Christ’s life on earth, we don’t feel the obligation of following the Jewish law, but we are still called to seek the Lord, to love and obey Him with all that we are and all that we have. But in Christ, the curses we deserve are paid and in Christ we can experience God’s blessing. Paul writes in Galatians 3.13-14:

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

[Deuteronomy 28.1-14]

28.1 And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 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 you. 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 barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 9 The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

[ WHAT ] is this passage saying and what is a key truth or thought that we learn?

+ What does God say is required for blessing? [vv. 1-2]

+ Where and what kind of blessings will the people of Israel receive? [vv. 3-9, 11-12]

+ What will the rest of the peoples think of Israel? [v. 10]

+ What reminder is given to Israel that these blessings hinge on? [vv. 13-14]

[ HOW ] is the Lord calling me to action/obedience?

+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

+ Do I believe that the Lord provides all good things?

+ Do I recognize the extent to which I am blessed in Christ?

[ WHO ] am I walking with and praying for to discover Jesus?

+ What is my next step?