Deuteronomy 33 - The Power of Blessing

Moses, knowing his days are numbered takes time before the nation to give God's blessing upon the nation. This same nation who had shown themselves so rebellious toward God was still His people. Moses and God loved these people dearly and God still had plans for them. 

Moses begins by reminding the nation that they are selected by Him and He has specially protected them and given them the law and charged them to live Holy in the land they are about to enter. Moses then goes on to pronounce blessing upon each tribe individually. 

After hearing about God's judgement on the wicked in the prior chapter they must have felt convicted and saddened. What an encouragement for their souls to know that they are still loved and that they have a role to play in God's unfolding story among the nations. 

We too can feel defeated when we consider the depths of our sin, the lengths God went to save us by giving His only Son to die in our place. Though we are adopted into His family as were the Israelites, we still fail and disappoint ourselves and God. 

What great hope we have in the blessing God gives us - as far as the easy is from the west, God has removed our sin from us. He has specially equipped us with His Spirit to accomplish His plan in our lives. God has told us that He has a plan and a purpose for our lives as well. Everyone's life will be used for God's glory and everyone will one day kneel before their Creator and confess Jesus Christ is Lord.   We have power now because of God's Spirit within us and we have purpose and hope for the future because we are His to command. 

We also have the power to judge and condemn people for their sins, bad choices and unholy conduct. We are right to intervene and correct if someone has gone astray, but we must follow it with a message of love and blessing. They are people of value in our lives and in God's eyes. We have no right to tear down even one of God's creation if we are unwilling to come alongside and rebuild that wounded soul and remind them of their purpose and their value in God's eyes. 

If we do see error, we should be careful that we are not speaking from our own preferences, but that we hold out God's word as we convey a standard of conduct. Thoughtless words are often spoken in our attempts to get people to adopt our way of thinking. God's thinking and God's values should be the only measure we use if we are going to criticize.  By the same token, God's love and view of that person's soul should be our measure for grace as we reach out to errant ones in our lives. 

We should not underestimate the power of an encouraging word to breathe life into another. Even as we hope that others will embrace the Lord, we should leave the conviction to the Holy Spirit  and make blessing rule our lips. As people have admired even small achievements in my life, I have strived to please them all the more. My bad habits were replaced by better ones just by seeing a model of grace in my life. 

We can all do the same for other sinners struggling. We can encourage them that they are created by God ad He has a plan and a purpose for their lives if they will accept it. Past failures are behind confessed to God and forgiveness poured out. A new day is ahead to be played out and only we can choose how we play it. With an encourager cheering you on with words of blessing, success seems more hopeful. 

Let's all be a blessing and consider the words we speak today. I love how Moses ends this passage: "blessed are you O Israel!  Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord?  He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places"  we too are saved by God and can claim Gods blessing for our lives. 

May God richly bless you as you seek Him and as you serve Him.