The more aligned and attuned we are with the heart and mind of God, the more amazing and wonderful life is. 

The more disconnected and distant we are from the heart and mind of God, the more problematic and painful life is.

Deuteronomy 28 and 29 are hard chapters to read, in part, because we know how things worked out. What God said would happen if the people turned away from him, happened. It was awful. It didn’t have to be that way. People made choices. Those choices had consequences. Those consequences were devastating.

Most of the problems we have in life are due to our own bad choices. Some are due to the bad choices of others. Remember what your mother used to say as you walked out the door, “Make good choices!”

When God tells us to have no other gods, he invites us to know and experience him in a deep, abiding relationship bonded by the kind of love that endures forever.

When God tells us to avoid idols of all kinds, he invites us to live in his lavish, unfailing love forever and ever.

When God tells us not to bear his name in a vain or careless manner, he invites us to live with all the rights and privileges accruing to those who live as his beloved sons and daughters. 

When God tells us to observe a weekly Sabbath day of rest, he invites us to find our identity not in what we do, but in who we are as his dearly loved children who he provides for better in six days of work than we can produce by ourselves in seven. 

When God tells us to honor our fathers and mothers, he invites us to find strength and stability with those who know us best and love us most, and who build community with others of like hearts and minds.

When God tells us not to murder, he invites us into the kind of life that builds up, protects, and defends the innocent, the vulnerable, and the endangered.

When God tells us not to commit adultery, he invites us to seek the highest and best for our husband or wife and to protect the bonds of other husbands and wives.

When God tells us not to steal, he invites us to enjoy property rights and to use them to so bless others that there is no consideration of taking what does not belong to us.

When God tells us to testify truthfully, he invites us to protect individuals and groups others seek to abuse legally. 

When God tells us not to covet, he invites us to enjoy what we have and to celebrate with others when they are blessed with good things.

Loving boundaries build better lives.

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I will live in maximum expression of all the goodness that comes my way as I follow God’s instructions and trust and obey. 

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Our Father, you want more for us than we want for ourselves. Your goodness, mercy, and love are extremely extravagant. Thank you for opening a way for us to enjoy all the blessings of obedience. Thank you for making a way to deliver us from the consequences of foolish choices. Amen.