“If you fully obey all of these commandments of the Lord your God, the laws I am declaring to you today, God will transform you into the greatest nation in the world. These are the blessings that will come upon you:
Blessings in the city,The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Blessings in the field;
Many children,
Ample crops,
Large flocks and herds;
Blessings of fruit and bread;
Blessings when you come in,
Blessings when you go out.
We have a system that we use with Timothy and his siblings to promote good behavior when they visit us. I have little cards that have a spot for the child’s name, and boxes with numbers 1-20. Each time the child does something good, I punch a number. When the card has all of its boxes punched, the child gets to pick a “prize”. My brother-in-law calls this bribery...but you can see from this scripture passage that the “if/then” method of “behavior modification” is nothing new!
The children have seen the prize basket. They know what is in there and what they are working toward, and they are motivated to earn those toy cars, dinosaurs, tiny baby dolls, and more. These are mostly thrift-store or Dollar Tree® finds...nothing expensive or extraordinary. But the children really work hard to do what is asked of them so that they can earn those punches – and a prize! There ARE consequences for bad choices and behaviors. But by putting the focus on doing what is right, we avoid most conflicts and infractions. At school, Timothy’s kindergarten teacher refers to this as “making excellent choices”.
There is a bigger payoff...the children build a sense of responsibility for their actions, a feeling of pride in doing what is right, and a delight in showing their mom and others the fully punched cards and hearing, “You did a good job! I’m proud of you!” I don’t think it’s all that different for us as Christians...or it shouldn’t be.
God has clearly laid out the “rules and consequences”. He has told us what He expects of us...and what blessings will be ours as a result of our obedience. He has told us that “the wages of sin are death”...and that a life without Christ will keep us from spending Eternity in heaven. And as I have pointed out before, God’s blessings are so numerous...and Jesus’ sacrifices on our behalf were so tremendous...that we should be filled with desire to honor and obey out of our own sense of devotion and gratitude.
I don’t know about you, but I am appreciative of the “health and blessings” that God provides. I don’t mind knowing what is required of me...and doing all I can to live up to those expectations. I feel so much better about myself when I know that I am pleasing God and operating within His will for my life. And I look forward to the day when I meet Jesus face-to-face and hear, “Well done! I’m so proud of you! Welcome Home!!!”
There is healing power in the “rules and consequences” of God. We have a clear “prescription” for how to live as disciples of Christ. And like all people, we have a choice to make...we can “follow the Doctor’s orders” and be healthy...or we can set the “medicine” on the shelf and try to do things on our own. We pretty well know what the end results will be. So what choices will YOU make today? Will they be “excellent”, healthy, and pleasing to God...or not?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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