Reading: Psalm 43:1-5
Even the greatest of followers run into dark, depressing times. Even they have those times of emptiness. We get a taste of what that was like for the writer of this Psalm. They are surrounded by wicked people, and feel loneliness. But in complete obedience to God, this person turns to Him instead of trying to find other means of comfort from worldly elements.
Just because we're followers of God, no matter where you are in your walk, you will still face those days of darkness and emptiness. As humans in an imperfect world, it is inevitable that we will. But when we choose to obey God and follow His commands of love and trust, we will be filled with an overwhelming joy and delight. The beauty of obedience is that we are blessed through it. No matter how down you are, keep going hard for Christ.
Reading: Luke12:35-59
Jesus tells us over and over again to always be ready for His return, comparing it to many different scenarios. When we are told to be ready, we are being told to live each day as if He were coming back that hour. This means we serve Him faithfully with the gifts He's blessed us with, and we treat others with love, as well as live lives that would respect Him. When we do these things faithfully, we will be entrusted with more responsibility and work in His Name. When you stand before Him in heaven, will you be able to hear that you were good and faithful to Him in using your gifts and living a pleasing life? With blessing comes obedience and with obedience comes blessing. When you can say that God has blessed you with health, or a job, or children, or a house, or the freedom to open the Bible and worship in your country, or all of these things, you have quite the love to pay back in obeying Him. When we are blessed by God's love, we need to show Him our love back by using those blessings for Him and by blessing others with what we have.
Always be ready, and always be serving wisely.
Reading: Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32
It is very clear here how close love and obedience are. In fact, they go hand and hand. When God asks us to obey Him, He wants us to show our love in this way. When we are blessed, we are being shown love by God. And in return, we are to obey Him, as well as embed His words in our hearts and teach them to our children. Though we are deeply surrounded by influences to do the opposite of obeying God and His commands, we need to hold tight to them. Following the ways of the world may grant you some good times and temporary blessing, but it is not true obedience to God. But when we choose each day to stand up for God and for our faith, we will find ourselves blessed and trusted with more. When we choose to disobey and carry on in wild living and doing what pleases us, it becomes destructive and full of guilt. Obey to be blessed. Obey when you are blessed. Embed His words in your heart and mind, and pass them down to the next generations.
Blessing comes with obedience, but when we are blessed we need to obey. If we wake up each morning, have a roof over our heads, have food on our tables, have the freedom to open our Bibles, we are already blessed more than over half of our world. Don't waste your lives on your desires, when He knows your desires and has so much more for you.
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