Choice between being blessed or being cursed

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 (NLT)

Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before. 

Deuteronomy 11:8-32 describe God’s rewards for being obedient to His will and ways.  While these words were written to the Israelites before entering the Promised Land, they apply to every follower of God today.  You always have a choice as God created you with a free will.  You can choose to obey or disobey His commands.  Yet, while your choice is free, there are consequences.  Choosing to obey the commands of the Lord will result in blessings.  Choosing to reject the command of the Lord that essentially means that you choose other gods before Him, you will be cursed.  The choice is always yours, but the consequence of that choice comes from God.

So much suffering in life occurs because of disobedience.  I remember a long time ago my pastor, Pastor Nick Kupferle, warned his flock that if you break a moral or ethical law of God, eventually you will pay the price.  This is essentially the paraphrase of the sow and reap principle found in Gal 6:7.  If you lie, cheat, steal, take drugs, practice sexual immorality, hang out with the wrong people, idolize things and other people rather than God, you will pay the price sooner or later.  Yet, the majority of humans, while either being taught this or inherently knowing right from wrong, learn this truth the hard way.

People choose to rebel against God’s laws.  War is caused by man’s rebellion against God, rebellion that results in selfishness and greed (James 4:1).  People choose to drive too fast, get drunk and then drive, and then when someone is killed, God is blamed.  People don’t eat right, allow stress to dominate their lives rather than pray (Phil 4:6-7), and overwork themselves for greed and gain, then blame God when diseases strike.  Starvation and poverty in much of the world is not God’s fault, but man’s choices to oppress people of their own nations, to ruin the ecological balance of the land, and follow other gods rather than the true God.  Diseases such as AIDS were the result of disobedience against God’s laws.  It is not God’s fault that so much suffering has occurred in this world, it is man’s fault for so foolish choices that has resulted in evil and that’s the curse that disobedience causes.   

In Deut 11:29, two mountains are listed.  Mount Gerizim represents the mountain of blessings and Mount Ebal represents the mountain of curses.  Later, starting in Deut 27:12, six tribes were appointed to stand on Mount Gerizim and pronounce blessings when people obeyed while six other tribes were appointed to stand on Mount Ebal and pronounce curses when people disobeyed.  Curses---consequences of disobedience---were then listed for the rest of chapter 27 and all of chapter 28.  The Word of God is quite clear on what constitutes disobedience.  Yet, the history of mankind is characterized by man’s choice to be disobedient, starting with Adam and Eve.  This will never change until Christ returns.  Yet, those who recognize their sinful nature and choose to change their ways and obey God’s laws will be rewarded with blessings not only during this life, but also for life eternal. 

Are there any false gods in your life?  Is there any deliberate disobedience against God’s laws in your life?  You know what you need to do to get rid of them---turn to Jesus Christ.