So what about God’s blessings? Who is to receive them? Do we have to earn them? Do they bring happiness?
Our story begins in the 120th year of the life of Moses. The children of Israel are about to cross the Jordan River and enter Canaan, Joshua is about to take over as leader of the nation, and Moses is living his last days on this Earth. But God has a few last things to say to the people through His faithful servant, and this is what He says:
“And the Lord said to Moses: ‘… these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them …'” (Deut 31:16 NIV)
Isn’t it sad that one of the last things God says to Israel through Moses is a proclamation that they will turn away from Him? But what comes immediately after this proclamation of failure is that I find the most interesting. The very next chapter of Deuteronomy records all of the blessings that are to be bestowed upon Israel, tribe by tribe!
And these aren’t little blessings, either! Of Joseph He promises unusually fertile and productive parts of Canaan, of Zebulun He promises feasts on the abundance of the seas and of the treasures hidden in the sand, and interestingly, Asher was told he would “bathe his feet in oil” (Deut. 33:24)! Today Syria sits in the ancient land of Asher, and Syria is known to be the only substantial oil producer in the Eastern Mediterranean region! [1]
The idea of blessings being poured out upon those who turn away from the Lord isn’t confined to the Bible, either. We’ve all seen the unsaved people of the world reaching wealth and prosperity, and Jesus personally tells us: “[God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matt 5:45-46 NIV).
Just like God blessed Israel, despite the fact that He knew they would fall, He continues to pour out blessings upon everyone in the world today!
I take great comfort in this fact.
Why?
Because God is a God of love! He does not withhold all good things from someone just because they have not accepted His gift of forgiveness and Salvation! He sees the depths of our hearts, and He loves and blesses us the same!
But does this blessing always bring us happiness?
It didn’t bring happiness to Israel (see the book of Judges!), and it doesn’t bring happiness to us today, either. We so often hear of famous, rich people turning to drugs, alcohol, sex, and often even suicide, and everyone is amazed that someone who had so much can be so unhappy.
The problem is, the blessings, themselves, are not the source of happiness! The source of happiness is the “Blessing Giver”! It’s when we fail to acknowledge the source of our blessings that they leave us empty!
This is why dirt poor Christians feel so rich. This is how someone who has a personal relationship with Christ can go through the worst trials and still wear a smile! This is how a Christian on his deathbed can rest easy! Because the road to the only things that can bring true happiness and peace of mind is only open to those who know and trust the “Blessing Giver”!
Friends, are your blessings leaving you empty? Maybe it’s because you don’t yet know the “Blessing Giver” personally. Maybe it’s because you haven’t yet learned to trust Him! Perhaps you haven’t yet experienced the insatiable, unchanging love He has for you! If you haven’t, but you would like to, I would like to help. Email me at helpmelealrnaboutjesus@gmail.com !
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, Mother of two teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, www.scripturalnuggets.org, with Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org.
[1] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Syria%27s_oil_industry