Blessings vs. Curses

“And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life.” (Deuteronomy 28:65-66 NKJV)

What is truly important, to be a nominal Christian or to be an obedient person to the voice of the Lord? Moses warned the people before they entered the land of promise that if they didn’t carefully obey the commandments of God they would suffer tremendously. They thought they obeyed God in the land God promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When the war ended in incompleteness without driving out the people of Canaan completely, they began to worship Baal and Molech which were the gods of fertility. They thought that it was safe to worship the idols for the purpose of agriculture business because they had the Law of Moses.

But it is not true. The scripture confirms that man cannot serve both God and Mammon. They were turning their ways from the word of God. Externally and superficially yes, they read the Torah and the Prophets and they even fasted twice a week in the first century. They thought it was a right thing to do for the nation and their descendants. There are so many nominal Christians these days. They do have all the forms of being Christians but only externally and superficially. They come to church, sing hymns, and give offerings. They pray and call the name of God just mechanically and in vain.

Contrary to their expectations, the scripture says exactly the opposite. They shall find no rest and peace. What they cannot avoid are a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. Their life shall hang in doubt, fear, and confusion and no assurance of life. That’s the realities for those who do not heed to the voice of God.

No matter how hard they try to fulfill their lives nothing avails. The only way is Jesus Christ who obeyed the Father even unto death. There is no other way, no other lamb, no other god, no other program to come to the Father in heaven. “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV)

The way to live a life worthy of God is to obey the commandments of God. “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.” (Deuteronomy 28:1 NKJV) Obedience does not mean the external rites of religion but the believing in God and acting on the truth. There is nothing wrong in the religious rites if they are done by faith and thanksgiving and if the worshipers live on that basis in the midst of home and work places.

Obedience never comes naturally. In order to observe carefully all His commandments, we must first refuse to choose to do the wrongs and the evils. We may fool others and cannot fool God. The true obedience has been demonstrated before our eyes on the cross in Calvary by Christ Jesus. Though He was God, He emptied Himself and gave His life even to the point of death. He renounced all the rights to be honored and worshipped and submitted Himself unto the Father to be sin in our place. The cross stands forever as the picture of true obedience to God.

Then the blessings follow. The blessing of God doesn’t mean material wealth though it may be included. Spiritual is the blessing of the Lord. Love, joy, and peace are overflowing in the midst of pressures and stress. Though we may be poor we are incomparably rich in Christ. Though we may be nobody in the world we are the heirs of God. All the unsearchable riches of Christ are ours as the true blessings. Real blessings do not come or go away by circumstances. They are immovable because they are from the throne of grace in heaven. No power, principalities, and the wickedness of evil can take away the spiritual blessings of God because our God is stronger than the devil.   

Life is not a fantasy or a dream. It is a real battle between God and the devil. The blessings and curses are real in our midst. They are not something coming after this life but our experiences right now and forever. Take heed to the words of truth even though they were spoken by Moses many centuries ago. It is a matter of life and death for those who take it seriously.