Throughout Deuteronomy we see God telling the Israelites how He wants them to live. At this point the Israelites hadn’t made it to the Promised Land, and were in need of God’s guidance and teaching. In Deuteronomy 28, God shares that He wants to bless the Israelites. But there’s a condition – they have to be obedient. Through Moses, He says: ‘You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God.’ This echoed what they were told in Deuteronomy 11: ‘So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today – to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul – then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied’ (vv.13-15 NIV). These things may not seem like blessings to us, but at the time that was what would have blessed the Israelites. God loves to bless us but we have to be obedient. Psalm 37:4 says: ‘Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart’ (NIV). God’s blessings come when we’re devoting ourselves to Him, and we are trying to live life His way. It doesn’t mean that if we obey Him we’ll get everything we’ve ever wanted. God sees our heart, He knows what we need – but He also knows what’s best for us. Although we might think of something as a blessing, God might know it wouldn’t be good for us. When we’re struggling with that, we need to remember His goodness and love towards us.

What Now?

Take some time to honestly assess whether you’re living in obedience to God. If you’re not, try and think of one thing you could change.