A Blessing or a Curse

Below: Mt Gerizoim and Mt Ebal courtesy of Bibleplaces.com

Deuteronomy 30: 11-19 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are notobedient, and if you are drawn away to bow
down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

When Israel was about to enter the promised land the Lord went through great effort to get them to understand just what they were getting into. In Deuteronomy 27 He had half of them stand on Mount Gerizim, half stand on Mount Ebal. Those on Mount Gerizim stood by while the Levites shouted out the blessings that would come to them if they obeyed, the other half stood on Mount Ebal while the Levites shouted out all of the curse. God loves to have us act out things He really wants us to learn. Can you imagine standing on the mountain of the blessing, listening to all that the Lord intended to do to bless you with all those around you ? Can you imagine standing on the other mountain, listening to the entirety of the curse? All of this after He explains that the blessing is entirely within your reach if you rely on Him? How awe inspiring that must have been.

What has struck me most about this is that there is no middle ground. No one stood in the valley to listen, everyone was on one mountain or the other. If you are in His will you are blessed, if you are out of it, you are cursed. Now, as born-again Christians we have Christ’s blood covering our sin so we aren’t actually cursed completely as an unbeliever. However, when we are not in His will we are out of it, and being out of His will is in itself a curse.

As a child, when your parents asked you to do something you had a choice. You could obey, or not. If you obeyed then you would receive a blessing. If not, then you were likely punished. Even if you did not receive an immediate punishment, more than likely you missed out on whatever your parents had planned for you. For example, I homeschool my kids. I love to do fun activities with them for school. I hate workbooks and hate checking papers. I prefer nature walks and field trips, sitting reading in front of the fire, and baking together. So do my kids. My children have a list of chores to do daily. If they don’t get them done or argue and disobey then we usually stick with workbooks. When they choose to take all afternoon to clean their room they miss out on all the wonderful things I had planned if they got done quickly as I had asked. They have a choice, a blessing or a curse. With me there is seldom middle ground.

With God there is no middle ground. Either you are in Him and are loving him through obedience or you are not. It’s your choice.

Lord, we thank you for your Son who saved us from the final curse. Lord, we ask that you would help us today to be obedient to your will, that we may be blessed by You. Lord, give us wisdom and understanding that we may see Your plan and obey, quietness of spirit that we may still enough to hear Your still, small voice. May Your grace be sufficient for this day, that we may attain all the blessing You would heap upon us. In Christ’s precious name, Amen.