God’s Help or Hinderance

Leviticus 26:3-4 KJV
[3] If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; [4] Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

The 26th chapter of Leviticus lays out a simple dichotomy. We can serve God and receive His blessings and assistance OR we can fail to serve Him and receive his chastisement and punishment. The choice is ours.

So the question is why? Why does God promise:

Leviticus 26:15-16 KJV
[15] And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: [16] I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Is it because He’s angry with the children of Israel for going back on their word and breaking covenant? I think the more likely explanation is he willing to use the punishments he knows will bring the people back to Him.

Some people get saved at a young age, serve God their whole life, and never experience severe hardship. I think God prefers this method.

Others have to hit rock bottom before they’ll turn to God. It takes prison, near death, harm to family members, cancer, etc. to bring them to their knees. Some fall in between these two spectrums and choose to serve the Lord after some minor inconveniences.

The point is, God knows what it takes to get you to serve Him, and He will go as far as He needs to on the list of punishments and chastisements to get you to turn to Him. He desires a relationship with You and what is best for you. He does not want to see you go to hell, which would be far worse than any punishment he delves out here on Earth. The Lord is a loving Father trying to protect us.

When we’re in that right relationship, He promises blessings and prosperity. It is our job to maintain that covenant relationship at all times. Sadly, some never choose to serve the Lord.

No matter how hard God tries, what punishment He sentences or what tactic He tries, some people refuse to serve Him. This sad fact was revealed through many of the wicked kings in the OT and through people all around us today. God gave us free will. We get to choose Him. He doesn’t want robots performing His every command. He desires that we choose Him, which is why He gave us the ability to choose in the first place.

Choosing the Lord is the smartest decision we can make, but we must make the choice!