Obedience is for Our Protection

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 on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in obedience to him. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them. Deuteronomy 28:1-14

My friend Lisa shared this story with me a few days ago, and we wanted to share with our readers because we have also felt convicted of this many times:

A few weeks ago, my friend Lisa took on a new job, looking for some extra money. She only lasted about two days because she quickly realized they wanted her to do things that were, well, illegal - she had to lie to people and threaten them. There are many reputable collection companies that follow laws, but this wasn't one of them. My friend didn't know what all the laws are, but she thought that this company broke most of them!

Later into her second day, Lisa felt the Holy Spirit very quietly tell her that she wouldn't have God's protection in her life if she kept working there. God's protection meant more than any money she would make... if she ever got paid (and she never did!!).

Many people would rather not be bothered with talking about obedience, and instead focus on God's grace and mercy. Those are wonderful things!! But it is walking in obedience that keeps us safe! When we are obeying the laws God established for us, we have a hedge of protection around us. God can minister his blessings and healings to our finances, our health, our families.

But when we choose to sin and make selfish choices apart from God's will, we forfeit His blessings of protection. That is a very scary place to be!

Deuteronomy 28 is Moses' warnings to the people before he dies. He first goes on to tell the people if they obey the Lord's commands, they will be blessed in all they do.

Conversely, starting at verse 15, he negates the blessings if they are disobedient, and they are cursed in all they do.

My friend Jen puts it nicely, "We are not under the law; but the Lord did not come to take away the law, but to take away our sin. The law is still there to help us. The Bible is an instruction manual for our lives. We need to apply it. We cannot ignore it..."

We are either walking in obedience, or we are not.

The choice is ours.

My friend Lisa sells organic honey, bee pollen and eggs - from Niagara County, NY. If you are interested in these products, e-mail her HERE.