Convo with Pastor - Leviticus 26:3

If you keep my ... commands

Leviticus 26:3

 

Today centers around one word: Consequences.

 

My kids always hated that word. But it's oh-so-true. There are consequences to our actions.

 

That's what God tells us. Under his Old Testament Covenant, he gave a wonder list of IF-THENs. Actually it was wonderful ... IF we followed. It was harrowing ... IF God's people did NOT.

 

The New Testament/New Covenant is surely different. But sit for a minute today with how seriously God takes obedience and sin ...

3 "If you keep my laws and are careful to obey my commands,

4 I will send the seasonal rains [and] the land will then yield its crops ...

 

3 "If you keep my laws and are careful to obey my commands,

4 I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep without fear.

 

3 "If you keep my laws and are careful to obey my commands,

9 "I will look favorably upon you and multiply your people

and fulfill my covenant with you.

 

3 "If you keep my laws and are careful to obey my commands,

12 I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.

14 "However, if you do not listen to me ...

15 and ... break my covenant by rejecting my laws ...

16 I will punish you.

 

14 "However, if you do not listen to me ...

15 and ... break my covenant by rejecting my laws ...

16 You will suffer from sudden terrors [and] wasting diseases ...

 

14 "However, if you do not listen to me ...

15 and ... break my covenant by rejecting my laws ...

17 I will turn against you ...

 

14 "However, if you do not listen to me ...

15 and ... break my covenant by rejecting my laws ...

19 I will break down your arrogant spirit ... 20 [and] all your work will be for nothing ...

 

14 "However, if you do not listen to me ...

15 and ... break my covenant by rejecting my laws ...

24 I will be hostile toward you, and ... 25 will send armies against you ...

 

14 "However, if you do not listen to me ...

15 and ... break my covenant by rejecting my laws ...

27 And in spite of this, if you still refuse to listen and still remain hostile toward me,

28 then I will give full vent to my hostility.

 

14 "However, if you do not listen to me ...

15 and ... break my covenant by rejecting my laws ...

32 I myself will devastate your land [and] 33 I will scatter you among the nations ...Your land will become desolate ... 34 Then the land will finally rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.

 

14 "However, if you do not listen to me ...

15 and ... break my covenant by rejecting my laws ...

38 You will die among the foreign nations ...

41 Finally, when I have given full expression to my hostility ...

42 Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, with Isaac, and with Abraham ...

44 I will not utterly reject or despise them while they are in exile ...

45 I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors ...

46 These are the laws, regulations, and instructions that the LORD gave to the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai.

in Christ's Love,

a guy who wants the green, not the red

(that's the way I liked my chili in New Mexico too)

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Despite imposing rules and consequences ... both rewarding and punishing ... God ends with 'I will remember my covenent' which just shows that he loves us. He cares. And like a good parent figure - he establishes consequences for our behavior.