If You Fully Obey
- Deuteronomy 28: 1 - 3 -
It had been a busy, but an interesting, week for me. I have been teaching a few poems which are tough nuts to crack for first-year undergrads who are just getting introduced to the concepts and application of poetic techniques and literary devices. One of the poems was "If" by Rudyard Kipling, and I had a tough time helping the students understand how every 'if'' in Kipling's poem contributes to the final and unwritten 'then' in the end of the poem. Every powerful beginning with an 'if' has a promise of 'then' in the end. The poem made the students think (and indeed made me rethink) of the significance of the word 'if'' quite philosophically.
It is Cause and Effect. Condition and Consequence. Requirement and Reward. Stipulation and Sanction. The Call and the Response. And while teaching this, somewhere in the corner of the lecture hall you see Sir Isaac Newton smiling with his third law, but then, Christ Jesus with His gift of grace!
Deuteronomy 28 is an entire chapter of conditional promises. It begins with a huge if and continues to tell us of all the promises of blessings the Lord has for those who fully obey Him. A promise of being blessed in the two extremes: in the City and in the Country, and in everywhere else that falls within this spectrum. General and locational blessings (verse 3, & 6), personal and family blessings (verse 4), economic and sustenance blessings (verse 5, 8, & 12), national and strategic blessings (verse 1, 7, & 10), spiritual and positional blessings (verse 9, 13, & 14). While the first 14 verses deal with blessings for obedience, the rest and the major part of the chapter, which is from verses 15 to 68, lists out the curses for disobedience too.
As we read through every blessing, the beginning phrase in the first verse rings a tone of call and commitment. Deuteronomy 28: 01-a begins by saying, "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today..." and then, one by one, the list of blessings proclaim the wonderful and perfect plan that God has for His children with His choicest blessings. The call that begins with the 'if' immediately ends with 'then' "the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth" (v.1-b). This first conditional promise is then reiterated by the following verse that says, "All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:" (v.2).
We are able to observe that the verses here keep reminding us to obey; to fully obey; to obey the Lord our God. The verses lead us into a promise detailed with just two extreme points - You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country (v.3), which essentially means that no matter where you go or what your occupation is, the favor of God remains constant.
This is the call and the promise the Lord is giving you today. Obey Him. Fully obey Him. Obey the Lord your God. That is essential in our lives as believers. A doubtless obedience. And this will lead us towards the blessings the Lord has promised. It is a covenant relationship, and the Lord is embracing you into this love. Trust the Lord. Fully obey Him. Follow all His commands. All the promised blessings will come on you and will accompany you.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us, now and forevermore. Amen.
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