Pay Now Play Later

“And the Lord shall make you the head and not the tail, and you only shall be above, and you shall not be underneath, if you will listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully.”
Deuteronomy 28:13


“And let us not loose heart in doing good, for in the due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.”
Galatians 6:9


Observation:
This chapter in Deuteronomy reveals a very important principle of God’s character. God draws a clear line between blessings and curses. He gives Israel the option to choose between them according to their obedience. The blessings will come to those who obey His commandments, and the curses will come for those who disobey. This is very simple, yet very difficult. Like John Maxwell’s dad’s used to say, “you can pay now and play later, or you could play now and pay later.”
The truth of the matter is that life is full of choices. The same way God can be both just and merciful, He can also be sovereign and respectful of people’s choices. He rules over our lives yet he never violates our will. In this particular verse, God points out His desire to give leadership, promotion, and influence to those who obey Him. He wants them to be the head, not the tail. His desire is for His people to be at the top and to thrive in every area of their lives. And still, the Creator gives them the chance to choose.

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
Deuteronomy 30:19-20


Application:
As we commit ourselves to serve the Lord with joy and excellence, we must be aware that God wants to bless our lives beyond our dreams. But there is a huge responsibility in our side in order to receive those blessings. We must choose to walk in the ways of the Lord. However, the choice is not enough. We must display a lifestyle that reflects practically that choice. Otherwise, we have only promises and empty words of commitment in our hearts. Good choices without discipline are bad choices. We must bring a sacrifice of praise to the Lord in which we embrace a godly regimen of disciplines that will help us to become the head not the tail. We need to make choices that are good for us, and then manage those choices until they become part of our character.
There are several areas of discipline in my life that the Lord is calling me to deal with. In all these areas I have chosen to honor God, but I have difficulty in developing a long and steady discipline in a daily basis. I start very well for some weeks, built some consistency, and suddenly the whole thing comes down like a card deck castle. Then I start all over again, planting seeds of faithfulness and consistency. Sometimes it requires big sacrifices. Sometimes is easy. But then after few days, my fuel runs out an I find myself once again growing weary, frustrated, and unhappy because there is no progress.
Well, today I sense the Holy Spirit encouraging me to keep going. I need to pay now and then play later. God is always faithful to give us the blessing He promised if we obey Him. I must love the regimen that will make me more disciplined and more prone to receive God’s blessing of promotion.


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank you for respecting my will and for being merciful to me. Please give me the resilience to keep working hard in developing the godly disciplines you want me to embrace. Let me reaffirm the good choices I made by becoming more faithful in managing them every day. Give me the right attitude to face my own weaknesses and teach me how to be patient and graceful with myself. AMEN!