Blessing

Deuteronomy is one of those books in the Bible that is hard enough to say and spell, and harder still to actually sit down and read. I always viewed Deuteronomy as one of those books that you skip when it comes to reading God's Word, but that view was beautifully changed this past spring when I did a Bible Study on the life of Moses that included a study on the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy is now a very special book to me because it is filled with rich history, messianic prophecies, and practical apllications! (So when you get there in your Bible study, don't skip it!) One example of Deuteronomy's treasure is found in chapter 28, which is titled, "Blessings for Obedience."

"If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God..." (vs 1)

The passage goes on and on to describe blessings in the city and blessings in the country, blessings on family and blessings on the home, blessings on work and blessings on weather. Basically, obedience leads to propserity and abundance.

Abundance! Isn't that we all long for, hope for, and work for? I don't know about you, but my heart desires the kind of blessing that accumulates and overflows into abundance. And I love what Deuteronomy says about this kind of saturated blessing: it results from obedience to God!
When I discovered that treasure buried deep in the book of Deuteronomy, I decided that the theme of my entire summer was going to be "Blessing".

I'm not exactly sure why, but I often organize my life into themes. Whatever God is teaching me becomes my theme, and however He is working on me becomes my goal. For this past summer, God has been teaching me a lot about what it means to live in radical obedience to Him, and how I can live a life of blessing as a result. Now, I'm not saying that it is easy to obey God and that the Christian life is always a bunch of blessings all the time. But what God has taught me through this summer and all my travels and opportunities is that blessings follows obedience! It seems so simple, but it is certainly a challenge to live!

As I reflect on my summer, I realize that every event and every circumstance has taught me some small thing about obedience and blessing. I've learned that blessings don't always come in the form of material or physical things. Usually, the biggest blessings are the spiritual ones: a discovery in God's Word, spiritual growth, renewed thinking, a refreshed perpective on life, or a more intimate relationship with God. The more you obey the Lord, the more you are blessed in these ways, and the more you are blessed, the more abundantly you can bless others in return. It's like a wonderful, beautiful cycle of blessing!

The summer is coming to a close and I'll be starting my freshman year of college in ten days, but it is my prayer that the lessons I've learned this summer will not fade away with the summer's heat. I want to live a life of radical obedience to God so that I can recieve spiritual blessings and share them with others. Lord, blessed be your name! Bless me as I seek to obey you so that I may in turn be a blessing to others.

I'll leave you with some great lyrics to a song called, "The Blessing" by John Waller.

Let it be said of us
while we walked among the living
Let it be said of us
by the ones we leave behind
Let it be said of us
that we lived to be a blessing for life

Let it be said of us
that we lived to reach the dying
Let it be said of us
by the fruit we leave behind
Let it be said of us
that our leagcy is blessing for life

This day you set life, you set death right before us, this day
Every blessing and curse is a choice now
We will choose to be a blessing for life

Let it be said of us
that our hearts belong to Jesus
Let it be said of us
that we spoke the words of life
Let it be said of us
that our heritage is blessing for life