Key to Bliss!
[29] Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!
We find the children of Israel on their way to the land of promise. God needed to let his people know what He expected of them in the land they were going in to possess. God is always about covenants with His children. He wants to bless us, giving us the wealth of nations and also relating with us as friends on a regular basis. If you read about all the fathers and mothers of faith in the Bible, you read about the immortal God reaching out to mortal man, seeking ways He can bring man into the realm of the abundant and the supernatural. He has standards and models of behaviour, and He also supplies the grace that we need to align with these standards. The Word of God contains the standards and models for us to align with, and we have been given the Holy Spirit to empower and enable us live according to these standards. If i then fail to pattern my life in line with the declared will of God, what excuse would I have?
God was willing to speak to the children of Israel, and in fact, He had spoken and men had heard him. However, either due to fear or ignorance about the nature of God, they would rather Moses went in to hear God, and then come back and deliver the message of God to them. They would rather have mortal man deliver the message of the immortal God to them, when the immortal God was ready and willing to speak to them directly. Do we not also do the same today, when we exalt the words of mortal man over and above those of the immortal God. We place premium on what man has to say, or we pattern our lives in line with the actions of man, forgetting that man is but temporary. Man has lost the fear of God or replaced it with an ungodly fear of man, his opinions and approval. I need to audit my life again today: does the immortal God hold the key, or are there other authorities in charge? Remember, God does not force Himself on anyone, or go against the exercise of a man's freewill.
He wants to bless me beyond what my current state can fathom. He is the God who is able to bless a mam beyond his current generation. Abraham and his descendants were blessed, and till today, all who come by faith to Christ partake of the blessings of Abraham. That is God: his resources are too much for one generation to exhaust; that is why He is seeking men whose lives He can display His splendour in and through. The keys laid out in the verse above are fear and obedience. The reward is present and immediate blessings, as well as generational blessings. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. With fear comes a desire to please God at all times. I ask God for grace for this walk of faith. I cannot do it by my own power. He is able and willing to help, so I come, as I am, and take advantage of all that He has made available. This is for me and my children. God's time of favour is here.
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