Contemplative Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 6:24 (New Living Translation)

24 And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day.

Moses is delivering the law from God to the people. (The prior chapter listed the ten commandments.) Wrapping up the commands, Moses adds that we obey so that God, “can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day.”

(1) Obedience brings blessings from God.

Let’s ponder that one for a moment or a lifetime or two.

(2) Obedience continues the blessings that have been coming from God.

Same pondering as with (1).

I guess we could try disobedience to see what that brings. The historical records show that didn’t turn out well for the people. Still, they continued in disobedience. I can assume that I am smarter and would have done so much better, but really? Am I that smart? Nope.

Let’s start with (2). God has blessed. I would be a fool to look at my life and claim something stupid like, “I did it all on my own!” Nope, the pleasant life I have is a blessing from God.

Now to (1). God will continue to bless. I don’t have a rosy day everyday. Nevertheless, any rational examination of my life reveals I have it much better than the great majority of persons on planet earth.

Thank you God for blessing me. Help me in my unbelief. Help me to be a bit more worthy today than I was yesterday.