BLESSINGS THROUGH OBEYING

And through your descendants all the nations of the world will be blessed – all because you have obeyed me.

Genesis 22:18

Abraham had a strong relationship with God long before there was anything known as religion. What he had was faith. He knew without any doubt that God existed and he trusted God. What an amazing blessing! All the nations of the earth would be blessed simply because Abraham obeyed God.

The word “obey” in today’s society tends to carry with it a negative connotation. The idea of having to “obey” anyone or anything isn’t always agreeable with everyone. It is much like an attitude of “I don’t want to, and you can’t make me.” This is not a healthy attitude for any individual and certainly not for society as a whole.

Ane yet, just get behind the steering wheel of your car and you will quickly find that you are not the only one on the road with a strong desire for everyone to obey the rules of the road! Countless other circumstances that occur every day in our lives may come to mind as well.

And this idea of obeying the rules applies to all of life as well. When other people obey the rules of moral behavior, everyone is blessed with peace and safety; much like driving our cars. Moral behavior starts in the mind. If we take time to think about “what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable … excellent and worthy of praise” (Phil. 4:8), then we will find blessings. A shorter way of stating that is for everyone to just be loving and kind towards each other. The more everyone is kind and loving towards each other, the more blessings there will be for everyone to enjoy.

Heavenly Father, you were, are and always will be absolutely right about the need for all people on Earth to love each other. It is the only way to have Peace on Earth. Help us to obey your commandment to love each other every day and bring blessings to all. Amen

                                          Denise Clark, CLM