Blessings and Curses

“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 11.26-28]

How does one know he or she is blessed?

How does on know he or she is cursed?

The difference between blessing and cursing always was seen in the presence or absence of success usually involving material and physical things.

So what did God mean when He said, "you will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord..."?

The answer was simple: blessing meant success in every area of life. If it was not blessing, then it was cursing. The evidence of the presence of success in every area of life or the evidence of the absence of success in every area of life determined whether one was blessed or cursed.

If one was blessed, it meant he or she was in obedience to God.

If one was cursed, it meant he or she was in disobedience to God.

But, "Thank God for Jesus!" right?

Wait a minute! Does Jesus mean we have blessings or curses? Think about it!

Blessings are no different today than they were in ancient Israel's time. Curses are the same as well.

Let me say here that I do not want to be guilty of calling good evil or evil good. Bad things are curses. And, according to the Bible, curses meant one thing and one thing only - there was a need to repent.

So when I see curses in my life (not good) then I should be able to conclude that something is wrong, right? But if Jesus is my savior, why then do I still experience curses? ...Hang on right here...

Why indeed do those who are Christians suffer curses? Is the answer difficult? Is God so mysterious that regardless of all the effort He put forth to define blessing and curses and their respective causes (obedience or disobedience, that we cannot take His Word as a standard for our lives? If we cannot know and trust God, then who can we trust?

What about Jesus then? Good question. Jesus, as much as anyone in the Bible, said there were things to "do" in the Kingdom of God. Just for a person to declare "I have faith in God" means nothing. The Pharisees did that! Jesus was adamant that a person "seek the Kingdom of God FIRST" and that meant looking and acting like Jesus.

How many of us, without our self-proclaimed title of "Christian" would be called a Jesus-like person by any outside observer?

So, if we are not looking like Jesus, then we are in disobedience, right? And, if we are in disobedience, there is no blessing for that, right? (We should not be tempted to cry out "Grace!" here. If we are not "taking up our cross", as Jesus demanded, then we are in disobedience that grace does not cover!). Faith is not an excuse to sin.

The absence of blessings then should be our wake-up call to repent. Faithlessness is at the root of curses. Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the Law (Gal.3.13), so if I am still experiencing curses, I may conclude that faithlessness is at the core. Our question should be then, "where am I not looking, acting, and believing like Jesus?" We should repent of our un-Christ-likeness and move forward... blessings are how we know we are accomplishing Christ-likeness.

But Jesus suffered, right? Yes, He did. And He did so with a purpose - NOT BECAUSE HE COULDN'T HELP IT! By Jesus own words, He laid down His life for His friends.

Every person is going to have to deal with this topic for themselves. I know, for me, it seems reasonable to look at my life and see how the absence of blessing is tied directly to the absence of looking like Jesus. I need to look and act like Jesus. I need to look and act like what Jesus said I need to look and act like and NOT what I religiously determine is acceptable!

Yes, the argument is solid that no one really looks and acts like Jesus, do they? Some do a thing or two that is Jesus-like but few really look and act like Jesus (in all the fullness of what Jesus looked and acted like on earth). Consequently, I believe, curses abound.

Is there any hope then? I "believe" so. I believe it is worthwhile to read the signs of curses in my life and use them (as God intended) as corrective measures to get me on track - in the right. I believe the Body of Christ as a whole (myself very much included) needs to be much much more repentant. Curses that abound should be our call to repentance. It doesn't matter whether I think I have sinned or not because my heart is desperately wicked (according to God) and can be known by no man. So I can only conclude in the presence of curses that there is sin - sin of disobedience that includes the sin of "faith"lessness.

How much repentance will it take? Enough so that we begin to see blessings. The choice is ours.

Father, I know that arguments abound about what I have written here. I know libraries and book shelves are full of man's explanation of "bad things" in the lives of "believers." But it seems to me that Your Word is very clear and I am content with that... and the fact that I need to repent - and stay repentant. I know I am not condemned except if I do not believe! Repentance says "I believe!!"