Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: and he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. | ||
| Deuteronomy 7:11–13 | ||
| In verse 7, Moses told the people the Lord loved them unconditionally. Here, he tells them the Lord would love and bless them if they obeyed His words. Is this contradictory? No. I love my kids whether they’re good or bad. I love them simply because they’re my kids. But if they say, “We’re not going to be here for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, for Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Easter,” although I’ll still love them, they’ll not enjoy the blessings that would have come their way had they remained close to me. That’s what Jude meant when he said, “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (verse 21). He didn’t mean we are to try to earn or merit God’s love. He meant we are to just “keep ourselves under the spout where God’s blessings come out.” Here in Deuteronomy, God says, “You’ll experience all kinds of blessings if you hearken to the judgments, if you take heed to the Word, if you let Me love you.” Pastor Jon Courson | ||
