THE HUMBLED, THE HONORED

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world.  You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God … The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain” (Deut. 28:1-2, 8 NLT).

When Moses told the people of Israel to honor and obey the Lord God, he told them that the Lord would bless them.  The principle of honoring and obeying the Lord and being blessed by Him is expressed in James 4:10 (NLT), Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.   If we’ll dig out the “how to” principles from Deuteronomy 28, we find some practical application for how humbleness brings honor.

What does it take to obey and be honored?  It takes:

Heart and soul

If you listen obediently to the voice of God, your God, and heartily obey … Deut. 28:1a (NLT)

Put your energy into it.

Care

… carefully follow … Deut. 28:1b

Get clear on God’s instructions so that you can follow them.

Attention

pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God … Deut. 28:13

Sometimes we listen but don’t pay attention and therefore it doesn’t make a difference in our lives.  We must pay attention to what God says in His Word with the objective of understanding what to do with what He says.

Alignment

Don’t swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods. Deut. 28:14 (Mes)

Avoid detours and ditches.

Enthusiasm

… serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, Deut. 28:47 (NLT)

Count your blessings to prompt your enthusiasm to serve the Lord.