By Lou Coleman-Yeboah
“Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” [Ecclesiastes 12:13-14]. So get rid of all evil, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and all slander. For the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance [2 Peter 3:9].
Just imagine…. dying lost, without repentance and facing eternal sentence to the pits of Hell, and all because the plan of salvation had been given to you and you rejected it. You crossed over that spiritual deadline and took “one more chance” for the last time and found yourself facing God’s eternal judgment. I tell you, repent now while it is still day! For a decision to live outside the fear of the Lord, that is, living as you please and for yourself, will bring not the blessings of God, but His judgment to bear in your life. And trust me; you don’t want that to happen.
Because according to [Deuteronomy 28: 12-68; Leviticus 26:14-46] there are Curses on Disobedience. “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statues which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Curse shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth and no one shall frighten them away…. Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever…..” [Deuteronomy 28: 12-68].
But on the other hand if you decide to obey the voice of the Lord there are Blessings on Obedience. “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you…The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens; to give you rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend too many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” [Deuteronomy 28:1-14, Leviticus 26:1-13; Deuteronomy 7:12-24].
Now, it’s all up to you…. Whatcha gonna do?
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live…” [Deuteronomy 30: 19].
May God mercies be anew to you in 2018!