“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you,” (Deuteronomy 30:1-3 ESV).
Two things jumped out at me from these verses. First, both “the blessing and the curse” came from God. He was in charge of the good and the bad. Now, I’m not saying that all evil comes from God or anything like that. I’m just reading and noticing that God uses both the positive and the negative to shape our lives.
And second, we are commanded to return. Or repent, if you will. Jesus’ first sermons were of that theme: Repent and believe. And we find it here all the way back in Deuteronomy. Return and obey. Repent and believe. With all your heart and soul.
God responds to our repentance. It’s promised, even here. We return and obey. And He “will restore.””
Your thoughts?
Todd
This is something I think about from time to time. It seems that God will do what’s necessary to bring us back into right relationship with Him, when we wander from His path. How much better to keep our focus on Him in the first place. Yeah I know, easier said than done. This is one of the things I pray for though. I’m not big on the pain of being redirected. Another thought on promises. You’d said in your tour show that the Bible doesn’t say that God promises things; His saying something is a promise. It kind of seems like He expects the same thing from us too. One example is the verse in Matthew 5 where Jesus says to let our yes be yes and our no be no. Anything beyond that is from the evil one. That’s a verse I’ve pondered over the years, especially in light of courtroom proceedings where witnesses are required to place a hand on a Bible and swear to tell the truth. Okay, I’m done pondering on your blog…for now anyway.
Could the curses in this passage be the same thing as consequences? When my son was a teen, I offered him choices that had consequences–obey and enjoy harmony between us and good things for his life or disobey and suffer the consequences (curse?) that caused conflict between us and harm to his life. Regardless of his choice, my love for him remained the same, but I grieved to see him suffer from making poor choices. And when he repented of his bad behavior, we would celebrate. Isn’t that the way God works too? His dreams for us are the very best life has to offer, yet He gives us the choice to refuse His best and suffer the consequences of our sin. Blessings on one platter and curses on the other–our choice, and freedom to make the wrong choice. And it is when we make the wrong choice that we see the immense graciousness of our God who restores and redeems when we repent and finally accept His dreams for us as the best thing that life has to offer. If curses are like consequences, then perhaps they are set in motion when I disobey (I’m bringing the curse upon myself?) and God in His sovereignty and lovingkindness warns me about them before I make the choice. It would certainly be an interesting study to track the mention of curses in the Bible and see how and why they are used. Is it a characteristic of God to bring curses (so that curses and blessings are opposite sides of the same coin) or simply a consequence that sin sets in motion? I don’t know, but as usual Todd, you provoke me to dig deeper. I really like the sequence of events you mentioned: repent, return, restore. Thank God for His mercy!
For me, it seems to be “the curses” that have set me back on the right path that have had the greatest impact on me. In a way they seem to be just as much of a blessing as “the blessings”
Psalm 94:12 “Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, the man you teach from your law;”
I pray that we treat the hardships as such, though it can be so difficult.
It’s so amazing how God will bring us back, no matter how many times we turn away and no matter how far away we’ve turned, if only we repent. Every time I think about this it blows me away.
I always try to encourage people (including myself) to remember that those curses or consequences are inevitably what bring us closer to God and make us better Christians. Rarely, do people pray as much as they do when they are struggling with something or dealing with pain in their lives–it’s as if when things are good we forget our need for God. I don’t mean that He is absent in our lives, just that our reliance is not as focused on Him.
I think too that these “curses” are God’s way of not only directing us back to Him, but also of teaching us a better lesson for next time.
I would agree “rarely, do people pray as much as they do when they are struggling with something or dealing with pain in their lives.” It’s definitely true for me. Is this wrong though? Should we be just as reliant on God when times are good? If it is wrong, then are times the hardest when everything is running smoothy?
I think that praying is just as important for good times as it is for bad times. It’s like keeping a conversation with God. Or think of it this way: Pray like it’s your breath.
Very interesting. I like that. For we breathe during the bad times and the good times alike. And if we don’t breathe, we are cutting our body off from something we need. But sometimes I keep breathing but forget that I am breathing. Sometimes I worry that even though I think I am conscious of it I’m not as truly conscious as I think.
Yeah, I think I know what you’re saying. You can pray so often that it becomes only repetitive instead of deep and meaningful prayer each time. That’s not a good groove to get into. I like to pray before each meal I eat, so that’s at least 3 times a day, plus other times I feel the need to pray. Even though I do it often, I take it so seriously each time; my prayers usually begin in the same way, but I find there is always something on my mind that I can pray to God about. Just try it, stop yourself right now and think about what you could pray about, what concerns are on your mind, what are you thankful for? Sometimes when I bow my head and close my eyes, it’s hard to focus and I feel uncomfortable about praying before God since inside I’m not still and quiet. At these times I remind myself that I don’t want to drift from God like this, unable to even pray, so I just breath…and I try to simply be in God’s presence. I’m just happy to be with Him.
It’s so cool how that works. When we aren’t stuck in a rut, even if our prayers have a similar structure they are like snowflakes in that each one is unique. We are constantly changing and thus constantly struggling with different things, noticing different things and blessed in different ways at different times in our lives. And yet at the very escence of each of them lies that same devotion, reliance upon, and yearning to fellowship with God. Hmmm, speaking of prayer. Jesus is God. He was God born on this earth in human flesh. So why did He pray?
Bryce, in your last post you answered the question of why Jesus prayed: “devotion, reliance upon, and yearning to fellowship with God.” Even though Jesus was God, he set aside many aspects of his glory and power and humbled himself to become one of us. Jesus even said himself (all throughout the Gospel of John) that all of his power and authority comes from God. So he was devoted and totally reliant upon God, and yearned for the fellowship he shared in heaven as part of the Trinity. We often view prayer as a last resort when we are in a crisis, but God sees it as a vital connection between himself and those he loves, much like the constant communication and intimate connection between partners in a marriage relationship.