The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
Psalm 85:12
It is a repeating theme of the Bible.
As believers, we will experience pain and difficulty when we sin.
That is not the end of the story. As we turn to God and return to His ways, in repentant prayer, He will give us joy and restoration.
As I have studied the theme of “harvest” this month, these concepts keep repeating themselves over and over.
We can choose to stay stuck in our sin or we can turn to God for help and victory over sin. We admit we are struggling in sin and we take the steps to be forgiven and to overcome. Or we stay stuck in the pit.
Yet God is merciful and longs for His people to return to Him with humble and repentant hearts wanting to change.
As we do things God’s way, our lives will experience joy. We have peace.
There are tangible blessings as well. How can we ask God to bless our work while living in grievous sin?
Our sin obstructs our prayers for blessing. There is concrete proof of this in God’s Word.
Psalm 66 verse 18-20 states, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”
In Proverbs 28 verse nine, we read, “If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.”
Read Isaiah 59:2: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.”
It is my experience in our Christian circles there is often much focus on women being submissive to their husbands and rightly so. There is certainly need for this teaching. Yet it is repeated frequently, almost as if we are sometimes being drilled with that concept.
But here is a concept we don’t hear as much about:
“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” 1 Peter 3:7
I might risk of some backlash but I will go out on a limb to say this is from my perspective.
My point is we have scriptural evidence in these Bible Verses listed that sin obstructs God’s blessing.
Don’t we all want to live right so we can have peace?
As we find renewal in Christ, forgiveness of sins, and humbly repent, we may be delighted to learn…
The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
In my life I have never had to earn God’s blessing. That is not how God works. Yet as I learned to live my life in God’s way more and more, by obeying His directions in Scripture, I can honestly say I have seen evidence of His blessing. I truly believe as we follow Biblical precepts, our lives are blessed.
Financial Biblical principles are only one example of this. As you follow God’s ways of doing things with your money (and there are scads of Bible Verses to study) you will indeed be successful or blessed.
Another example is sexual integrity. If anyone insists on going your own way, going from person to person, to relationship to relationship, they will never find peace or joy.
God’s earnest desire is for us to “Rejoice in the wife (or husband) of our youth.” (Proverbs 5:18).
If we stubbornly disobey, we will surely mess our lives up and that of our families. Unless of course we turn to God in repentance and a desire to change.
God is always merciful to those who sincerely repent. He is a God of compassion for hearts that desire to follow Him and His ways. Even if it means coming back after backsliding many times over.
We must not remain in denial. Not me nor you.
In closing, let us hold on to these beautiful words from “Psalm 85:12”… The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
Won’t you join me in thanking God for His harvest of goodness in our lives?