God loves us so much; He can’t wait to bless us! He desires to bless us non-stop. And, of course, we want to be blessed, but what’s stopping Him from blessing us? The answer is simple—our disobedience!
I can
literally hear and feel the pain in God’s voice when He says things like, “Oh,
that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in
my paths!” (Psalm 81:13) He can’t contain Himself at the thought of all that
He’d do to bless us: “How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon
my hands would be upon their foes!” (Verse 14)
In verse 8,
He says, “Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O
Israel, if you would only listen to me!” God is hurting over the fact that
there are so many ways He could bless us, but He is unable to because of our
dull ears and hearts. We don’t listen, and when we hear, we don’t obey. How
sad! He is pleading with us sinners: “Listen to me!”
He even
found it necessary to reintroduce Himself to them (us): “It was I, the LORD
your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt.” Then He quickly added, “Open
your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things” (verse 10). What are we
waiting for? Why is it so hard for us to obey? He is waiting to bless us! Don’t we understand the price He
paid to redeem us? The apostle Paul admonishes us, “God paid a high price for
you, so don’t be enslaved by the world” (1 Corinthians 7:23). We are that
precious in His sight. A mother would spend her last penny on her child,
demonstrating that even we sinners know how to give good gifts to our children.
God cannot do any less (see Matthew 7:11).
His promised blessings include, “Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I
will free your hands from their heavy tasks” (verse 6). “I would feed you with
the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock” (verse
16). What more do we want? Our God is able; the whole world belongs to Him,
including us. He has given us the freedom to choose so we can love, serve, and
obey Him by choice, not by compulsion. He could make us obey Him, but that
wouldn’t bring Him the satisfaction of us willingly following Him in obedience.
After all
the failed coaxing, He declared, “But no, my people wouldn’t listen. Israel did
not want me around. So, I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living
according to their own ideas” (verse 11-12). How sad and disappointing!
God is
longing for a meaningful relationship with us, His children. Let’s respond with
the same kind of yearning. This world is passing away, and only those who do
the will of God will abide forever. My heart’s cry is, “Lord, I love you; help
me love you more through obedience.” What’s your heart’s cry today?
Moses was
called the friend of God. Why? Because Moses yearned to know God: “Show me your
glorious presence” (Exodus 33:18). Do you know God enough? Are you content with
where you are in your walk? If not, then let’s put worldliness behind us and
seek after Him earnestly, with all our hearts. That’s the only way we will be happy and satisfied in our Christian walk and the only way God will open the windows of heaven and pour His countless blessings on us.
Here is a promise we can live by: “If my people who are
called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn
from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and
restore their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). May God help us to seek after Him with
all our hearts!
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