You know God’s laws, and it isn’t impossible to obey them. His commands aren’t in heaven, so you can’t excuse yourselves by saying, “How can we obey the Lord’s commands? They are in heaven, and no one can go up to get them, then bring them down and explain them to us.” And you can’t say, “How can we obey the Lord’s commands? They are across the sea, and someone must go across, then bring them back and explain them to us.” No, these commands are nearby and you know them by heart. All you have to do is obey! Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster. I am commanding you to be loyal to the Lord, to live the way he has told you, and to obey his laws and teachings. You are about to cross the Jordan River and take the land that he is giving you. If you obey him, you will live and become successful and powerful. On the other hand, you might choose to disobey the Lord and reject him. So I’m warning you that if you bow down and worship other gods, you won’t have long to live.
Memory Verse: Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster. Deuteronomy 30:15.
Is it possible to love someone and do things to make them unhappy? This was the question I asked myself when I read today’s bible reding and memory verse. I saw that all the potential excuses the Israelites could make had been explored even before they began to use them. The Israelites were given no way out or allowed to use lame excuses and they were given two options “Obey and be successful” or “Disobey and perish”.
You would assume the choice should be obvious and they should clearly choose to obey because not only were they delivered by God from the enemy, but God personally made provisions for them all through their journey making sure they lacked nothing. At such you would have assumed that their loyalty would be firmly on the Lord’s side and their love for Him is not debatable, but in real sense, even though they experienced God first hand, they were quick to forget Him.
Just like the Israelites, our mouths are usually full of promises. Just before we get our big break, we say all sort of things that even an ordinary man will be convinced that we love God with all our heart but once we attain that height, obeying God becomes very difficult, just because we think we have made it through. After this, we come up with so many excuses why we cannot do the will of God or adhere to our promises before the big break.
The journey of success does not really start until we have become successful then we have an important phase which determines if we will remain successful or regress based on the choices we make and the steps we take.
King Solomon’s journey did not begin until He was made king, after which his choice of disobeying God not only impacted Him but His generation.
The Lord did not want the Israelites to worship foreign gods, so he had warned them not to marry anyone who was not from Israel.
Solomon loved his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt. But he also loved some women from Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and others from Sidon and the land of the Hittites 1 Kings 11 :1-2.
Your obedience to God is the only evidence of your love for Him therefore if you say you love God and struggle to obey Him then you should really be questioning if you truly love God or live in a bubble of assumptions thinking you love Him.
Love and obey, for there is no other way to be successful and powerful but to love and obey.
PRAYERS:
- Father, thank you for your unending love.
- Thank you for your undisputable kindness to me and my household!
- Have mercy on me Lord, forgive all my iniquities!
- Help me Lord to Love you with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength!
- Help me to live in the light, show your love to mankind and be evidence of your light
- Let all my praise and worship be acceptable before You.
- Thank You for answering and receiving me Lord, IJMN I Pray, Amen
