“If you are in Christ, you are under God’s covering. That’s worth celebrating every single day — His mercies are as sure as the sunrise. That said, we have to make a daily decision to stay under the umbrella of God’s blessing by walking in obedience.”- Mark Batterson
“If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.”- Deuteronomy 28:1-2 (NIV)
As Mark Batterson continues Chapter 2 of Double Blessings, he stresses that fully obeying and carefully following God’s commands doesn’t denote legalism. Instead, Pastor Batterson clarifies, legalism is:
- obeying the letter of the law while violating the spirit of the law
- making human amendments to God’s laws; this makes them harder to obey than God intended
- fails to honor God; in fact,it dishonors God’s original intent
- behavior modification at best and self-righteousness at worst
Furthermore, Pastor Batterson notes, in Deuteronomy 28:1-2 Moses repeats the condition of God’s blessing. In addition, Mark states, the Latin word for ‘obey,’ obedire, means ‘to give ear.’ Hence, obedience starts with an ear consecrated to Christ. As a result, obedience involves tuning into Christ’s frequency and turning up the volume. Also, it includes obeying Christ’s whispers, even when our culture screams the exact opposite.
In conclusion, God never defaults on His promises. In Psalm 23, the word scholars translate follow represents a hunting term. Therefore, even if your turn your back on God, to find Him all you need do is turn around. Your heavenly Father waits with arms wide open – ready to bless you and welcome you back home.
Today’s question: What Bible verses remind you that God’s mercies are as sure as the sunrise? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “A Mandelbrot set = the blessings of God”
