Two Choices with Different Results
Leviticus 26:3-4a, "If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give..." Leviticus 26:14-16a, "But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you..."
As the book of Leviticus is winding down God gives conditions for blessing His people, but He also gives warning if they choose to disobey Him. The two choices every person can make are simple, we can either obey God or disobey God. So decide to obey the Lord with all your heart, mind, emotions, and will. Choose not to disobey, do your best not to stray, and if you do sin, and we all do, then make it right immediately. Choose to confess your sin if you find yourself having disobeyed. The issue of obedience or disobedience is more about choice than it is about doing. The greater part of "doing right" is found in having a heart that has decided to do right, it is in the choosing.
The consequences between obedience and disobedience are clear. Simply read the blessings of obedience as recorded in Leviticus 26:4-13, and the greatest of these blessings to me is the blessing of God's presence. "And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people." (Leviticus 26:12) Now read the progression of judgment associated with disobedience recorded in Leviticus 26:14-39, God adds one form of chastisement upon another. The judgments escalates one on top of another (see vss. 16, 18, 21, 23, 27, 32). People certainly pay a price for disobedience.
I trust you have decided to follow Jesus, and that your choice is a choice of obedience. The choices are simple, the consequences are greatly and profoundly different!
Your Friend and HIS,
Pastor Abbott
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. Have you decided to obey God in all things? How does you life reflect this decision?
2. What is the greater part of doing right?
3. Do you believe there are consequences for right and wrong? What are some of those consequences?
4. Will God escalate the consequences of judgment in the life of one who chooses to live in disobedience? How is this reflected in Leviticus 26?