Blessings and Curses

Deuteronomy 28: 1-2: Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 28:1: But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.Chapter 28 of Deuteronomy is often called the chapter on blessings and curses. If you read the chapter you will find that the first 14 verses detail the wonderful blessings we will receive if we are obedient to the Lord. The next 54 verses, or four times the number of verses, warn us of the many curses that will fall upon us if we don’t obey the Lord.

I wonder if it is fair to draw the conclusion that we are four times more likely to disobey than to obey. I’ll leave that up to each reader to decide. I think you will agree it is far easier to sin than to do the right thing. Our propensity to sin is great. History bears this out, as does personal experience.

We can see the truth of these verses in everyday life. When we sin there are consequences. Some are severe. Some may go unnoticed by others but we notice and we suffer within our souls. Our consciences haunt us and it saps our strength (Psalm 53).

We can witness the effects of our national sins as our nation progressively turns its back on God. Our world status is diminished. Our reputation is trashed. Our economy is in the tank. Abortion is rampant and homosexuality is not just tolerated. It is embraced.

I encourage you to read this 28th chapter in Deuteronomy. Then, pray for ourselves and pray for our nation. As for me, I want the blessings.