Readings for today: Deuteronomy 28-30
Obey God and you will be blessed. Your family will flourish. You will never be defeated. Your crops will never fail. Your flocks will grow. You’ll receive promotion after promotion at work. Your kids will earn college scholarships. You’ll never see the inside of a hospital. You will be healthy and wealthy and prosper in all that you do. Disobey God and you will be cursed. Your family will suffer. Your enemies will be victorious. Your crops will fail. Your flocks will miscarry. You’ll be terminated from your job. Your business will go under. Your kids will do drugs and never leave home much less go to college. You will be sick and poor and everything you do will turn to ash.
If only things were that simple...
Today’s reading from Deuteronomy is one of the most misunderstood and even abused sections of Scripture. Heretical prosperity preachers love this part of the Bible. Especially Deuteronomy 28:12-14, “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. 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, 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.” They love to tell their listeners that if they will just obey God by sending in their money - “sowing a seed” is the phrase they commonly use - God will make them the head not the tail. Their fortunes will only go up, never down. They will find healing for all their hurts. They will accumulate more possessions and earn more money than they know what to do with. All because they had faith and obeyed God.
If only things were that simple...
Sadly, life is not that simple. We all know it. We’ve all seen it. God’s faithful often suffer. Their families struggle. The stock market crashes and takes their savings. Natural disasters strike and destroy all they own. I’ve seen cancer or COVID come out of nowhere and take the lives of some of the most godly people I’ve known. I’ve watched evil flourish. Look at what’s happening in Ukraine right now! I’ve witnessed dishonest people get ahead. Horrible, manipulative, ungodly people flourish. The pandemic of the last two years has certainly brought the worst out in many folks and some of them seemed to have come out smelling like roses. I don’t understand.
What does it mean to faithfully obey the voice of the Lord? (28:1) What does it mean to keep His commands and walk in His ways? (28:9) What does it mean to return to the Lord and obey His voice? (30:2) Here is what I’ve discovered. Following God’s Law is a means to a much greater end! As always, the key is the heart. “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” (Deut. 30:6) The key is living from the “inside out” rather than from the “outside in.” You and I cannot “work” our way into God’s good graces. We can’t “obey” our way into God’s blessings. We can’t “earn” our way into God’s favor. That’s “outside-in” thinking! The idea that if we just follow God’s commands faithfully enough we will be blessed is nonsense. Life with God doesn’t work that way! It’s not an equation. It’s not an A+B=C kind of deal. So we can’t look at our life - with all it’s ups and downs - and conclude that when life is up, God and I are good. Or when life’s down, God and I are on the outs. That’s not how life with God works.
It’s just not that simple...
What God is after is the human heart. Over and over again, He makes this clear. Genesis. Job. Exodus. Leviticus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. The theme is consistent. God wants a family. A people with whom He will share His great love. Furthermore, He desires their love in return. Love Me with all your heart, soul, mind and strength! Return to Me with all your heart and soul! Love Me for who I AM! I AM the God who chose Abraham when he was bouncing around Ur living life as a happy pagan. I AM the God who visited your forefathers and mothers. Abraham and Sarah and Hagar. Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob and Leah and Rachel. I AM the God who delivered you from slavery in Egypt. I AM the God who guided and protected you in the wilderness. I AM the God who has brought you to the Promised Land. Yes, obey Me! Not because you have to or are forced to or because you are afraid of what might happen. Not because you’ll get ahead in this world or be healthy and wealthy and live a life of luxury. No! Obey Me because you love Me and long to serve Me. This is the key! Loving God from the heart will NATURALLY lead to obedience which in turn NATURALLY leads to blessing. Don’t get these confused. Don’t put the cart before the horse. The goal here is not the blessings. The goal is God! God must be our supreme treasure. God must be our heart’s truest and deepest desire. God must be our all in all.
Readings for tomorrow: Deuteronomy 31-34