If God blesses us with wealth, power and influence, we should positively embrace them in order to glorify His name
When
Paul was baptised more than 30 years ago, his pastor pronounced this word of
blessing on him: “You shall be the head, not the tail.”
Indeed,
this blessing can be true for all Christians. Why not? If our walk with God is
right, if we’re obedient and living out His will for our lives, we’ll get to experience
what God promises—being
the head and not the tail.
The
blessings of obedience are found in Deuteronomy
28:1-14:
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments
that I command you today, the Lord your
God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all
these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be
in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall
be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of
your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your
flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading
bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be
when you go out.
“The Lord will cause your enemies who
rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one
way and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns
and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that
the Lord your God is
giving you. The Lord will
establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep
the commandments of the Lord your
God and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see
that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of
you. And the Lord will
make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit
of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give
you. The Lord will
open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land
in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall
lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you
today, being careful to do them, and
if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the
right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Head of boat, Diamond Head
Joseph
was a Bible hero who epitomises the head, not the tail. Because of his faith,
he moved from pit to prison to the pinnacle of power in Egypt. He finally rose
to the position of governor of Egypt, second in rank to Pharaoh. During good
times, he had the foresight to stockpile grain, a move that saved many lives
when famine struck.
But lest we get away thinking that the Christian life is merely a bed of roses, we need to understand that …
- A worldview that ‘God is good all the time’ cannot possibly explain the whole gamut of experiences that believers have to face in life. http://bit.ly/19JlmrB
- There will be times when we won’t be able to figure out what on earth is happening to us. http://bit.ly/1graob4
- But be rest assured God is with us. http://bit.ly/1j0Cr5i
- He has a definite purpose when He allows us to experience trials and tribulations. http://bit.ly/KEHda3
Now, let’s backtrack to verse 2 of Deuteronomy 28: “And all these blessings
shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your
God.”
This means we should not run after blessings or set our
eyes on blessings—as blessings are
meant to follow us when we
obey.
The above viewpoint concurs with what Jesus taught: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew
6:33).
Finally, should the
pursuit of blessings be the ultimate goal for believers? http://bit.ly/PPIRI4
To be rich should never the main focus for believers. Rather, God wants
us to know Him intimately and find true riches in Him. His promise is not that all of us will live in bungalows and drive
prestigious German marques once we believe in Him.
However, He promises to supply all our needs (Philippians 4:19).
His love and power enable us to live a victorious life so that we are ‘more than
conquerors’ (Ephesians
3:20, Romans 8:37).
Whatever
the circumstances—good
or bad times—God has
destined us to be the head, not the tail.
RELATED POSTS
THINKING BEYOND 'GOD IS GOOD'
DON'T TRY TO FIGURE IT OUT
FAITH, FEELINGS, CIRCUMSTANCES
PURPOSE IN PAIN
WHAT DOES LIVING THE
ABUNDANT LIFE MEAN?
http://bit.ly/PPIRI4
No comments:
Post a Comment