Blessings of Obedience

Leviticus 26 Blessings of Obedience

From the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link available on links page) 

 ‘You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God. ² You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the Lord. ³ If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, ⁴ then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. ⁵ Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land. ⁶ I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. ⁷ But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; ⁸ five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. ⁹ So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. ¹⁰ You will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new. ¹¹ Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. ¹² I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Today's text describes the blessings of obedience to the law, for the nation of Israel. The Levitical law contained 613 regulations pertaining to evrything from what to eat, how to dress, inter-personal relationships and worship and sacrifices to God. Knowing the rebellious nature of man it isn't surprising that frequently throughout their history the Israelites lived under the penalties or curses of disobedience rather than the promises of obedience.

Fortunately for us we no longer live under the Levitical law. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 8:1-4 says: Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³ For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. So we are no longer subject to the law if we are in Christ. We have been set free. This though is not a liscense to live as we please. We are set free from sin, not free to sin. The fact that we are saved by grace through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross does not give us permission to live in disobedience.  Romans 6:1-14   says:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? ² May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life...¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, ¹³ and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴ For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 

God still promises blessings for obedience and consequently penalties for disobedience. We do live under grace so God gives opportunity for repentance. Even under the law He says that the purpose of the penalties for disobedience was not punishment but rather to turn the hearts of the people back to Him. For us the penalty for disobedience is not God's punishment. Nothing that happens to us in this life is God's punishment for our sin. The judgment for sin is eternity apart from God.     it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment(Hebrews 9:27)         Nothing we can experience here can equal the judgment of eternity apart from God.  What we experience from disobedience here in this life is God's removal of the promise of His blessing, His taking away His hand of protection. Just as with the covenant of the law, this taking away the blessings is meant to turn us back to God not for punishment.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.(1 John 1:9) 

There are consequences to every decision and choice we make. When we sin and act in disobedience to God there are often consequences of our decisions and actions that remain with us even though God forgives us. We need to acknowledge the things in our lives that are consequences of past decisions, recognizing that they are neither God's punishment nor the devils attack against us. As we accept responsibility for our behavior, we learn from our past mistakes and reduce the probability of failing again in that area.

God wants to bless us. In Jeremiah 29:11-14, God speaks of His promise of restoration to the nation of Israel:  For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes...   

His promise to us is the same. He wants to bless us and give us hope. We may continue to live with some of the consequences of our past, but Jesus came to redeem and restore. Read it again.    You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes... 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ my redeemer and the one who restores, Holy Spirit, thank You that You made a way that I no longer need to live under the law, but now live only in obedience to You Christ. Thank You that though my decisions and actions in the past may have caused negative circumstances and consequences in my life, Your plan for me is good. Your plan for me is blessing, protection and restoration. Thank You that as I seek You and search for You, I will be found by You. Holy Spirit guide me and lead me to walk in complete obedience to Jesus Christ, my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer, the one who restores.  Amen