Our God is good. He is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, and He is forgiving (Exodus 34:6). Our God is just and wants good for us. The Bible tells us of the blessings He had for Israel if they obeyed Him. But even when they disobeyed Him, turned their backs on Him and ended up in distress, He recused them and gave them another chance.  

^{The Blessing – Deuteronomy 28:2-14}

² And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. ³ Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. ⁴ Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. ⁵ Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ⁶ Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

⁷ “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. ⁸ The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ⁹ The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. 

¹⁰ And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. ¹¹ And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. ¹² The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. ¹³ And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, ¹⁴ and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

What a great blessing God had for Israel. If Israel obeyed God, they would have been immensely blessed in every area that mattered to them. Their children would be blessed, their animals and their land. The world would have seen that they were a favoured and blessed people. They would have seen who this God was through them. God’s people are supposed to be the head and not the tail if they lived according to God’s words.

This God was the same back then, and He is still the same God today (Hebrews 13:8; Malachi 3:6). He wants to bless us with the absolute best. He has given us the greatest gift of all gifts, Himself in Jesus, and all we need to do is accept it and live according to His ways. Once we do this, we will be blessed. However, it is not always an easy process to move from a cursed existence to be the blessed one that He intends us to be. When we do accept His gift, we are saved but that process for us to be transformed takes time and trust in God. But we know that even though that path towards Him may not be easy, He will bless us, and He has a wonderful house for us, where we will only have joy and peace with Him one day.

But just as He warns Israel here about what would happen if they chose to disobey Him, similarly we can be cursed too.

The Curse – Deuteronomy 28:15-46

“But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

..

“All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. 

So, do we want to be blessed or cursed? Do we want to be God’s people or not? This is the same God who blessed them that is our God. He wants to bless us, but the opposing side tries to lure us in, away from Him, if we choose to be lured. It is so easy to fall into the trap of this world and do all things contrary to Him, which will put us on the ultimate path to being doomed forever.

As I read about Israel and see how God made sure that we would know about this, I know it is for a reason. He made sure to preserve this part of history for us. The account highlights that they were told over and over again, exactly what to do. But over and over again, they did exactly the opposite, and eventually, they cried to God to be recused. This pattern is repeated many times. You cannot help but to notice the repeated nature of this pattern and so it is important. I can’t help but think that God wants us to see something so significant here. It is easy to slip into a trap of thinking “why are these people so obviously foolish.” But are they? Are we?

Why is the fact that they keep turning away from God highlighted so much? Is it because we are to be aware that we too can so easily slip into that path? That path of being told exactly what to do and being told exactly what a horrendous consequence will follow, yet we can still choose to turn away from Him. It seems so obviously wrong, but do we think that we are any different from them? He is warning us that we are not very different from them. In a split second, we can choose wrong just like them.  

This process of slipping away from God can happen so subtly and slowly that we will not notice until it is too late. We need to be intentional about every choice we make and ask ourselves, are we headed down the right path? Can this small choice to not spend time in prayer because I am too busy, make me end up like Israel? Can this small choice to be influenced by others and do as they do put me on the wrong path? The Israelites probably got there by a series of small choices.

So, I chose to note what God has left in these pages for us to see. To take note that He put every single word in here for a reason. To be aware that I am never assured of where I stand once I live in this world. To know that I can easily be pulled into darkness and away from my Father. I choose to be intentional about all my actions. I choose to keep this fresh in my heart by doing as He said: to keep reading and meditating on God’s word day and night (Joshua 1:8). By keeping Him at the forefront of my every task. By spending time getting to know Him and what He is saying. I want this blessing that He has for me. I want this house that He prepares for me. I want this love that He has for me more than anything in this world. And I will keep repeating this to remind myself lest I forget.

All photos were taken by Kyle or Vani. These photos are from the many adventures we have been blessed to experience together. We are so grateful for every blessing from God. No filters were used nor were the photos edited except for an occasional crop. We hope you enjoy.