Why Obey?
Today after attending a portion of a “anti-sex trafficking” seminar, I headed to Denver for some appointments. I was able to attend a basketball practice for grandsons Caedmon and Riley and then will spend the night with Christian and Bridget. I hope to stop by the Capitol on my way back to Fort Collins tomorrow.
This evening the grandsons wanted to teach me to play “Skip-Bo” junior. It has been a while since I played a card game and I actually won the first game, taking advantage of “beginners luck.”
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY.. “Obey all the Lord’s laws and commands, so that you may live in safety in the land. The land will produce its crops, and you will have all you want to eat and will live in safety.”
Leviticus 25:18,19
At the end of Leviticus we find the reason behind all of God’s laws. The culmination of the law relates to instructions concerning the land. The instructions are given to remind God’s people that they do not own the land, God did. They used the land to produce crops for food and commerce.
They were to allow fields to lay fallow every seven years and every fifty years “the year if Jubilee” all land was returned to the original owner and all slaves were freed. Scary instructions indeed. But the promise from the Lord was He would take care of them.
The rains would come, the crops would grow, there would always be enough and they would , live in safety.
The verses above mention safety twice. In the land they were going to inhabit safety was a big issue. If they had to fight the Lord would fight for them. He would make their enemies afraid of them. This provision would be miraculous indeed. Just like the Lord created a separate environment in Egypt, so He would in Canaan.
God’s people never experienced this level of provision, because they never practiced the level of trust and obedience that was required. The droughts and hardship and fear of their enemies was to remind them of God’s instruction and for them to return to the way of blessing.
Solomon recognized this in his coronation prayer, and the Lord answered accordingly, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
Failure to recognize the connection between obedience and blessing can result in a distorted view of God, where we assume that the Lord’s blessing is our “right” regardless of our life of trust or obedience. Solomon recognized this even in his day, “Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the Lord.” (Proverbs 19:2)
This can result in giving ourselves too much credit and God too much blame about the circumstances of our life, when the opposite is true.
While we are thankful as followers of Christ for “grace” (unmerited favor) and “mercy” (not getting what we deserve) – we still need to remember that there is a cause and effect connection in our life with the Lord. Trust and obedience is always that path of life and blessing.