Just as obedience to God brings blessings, so disobedience brings curses. There is no middle ground. When God's people disobey God and don't follow his words, they cannot escape curses. The curses listed (16-19) are the exact reverse of God's blessing (3-6). When they forsake God, they will experience not only curse, confusion, and rebuke in all the work of their hands, but also destruction, disease, drought, defeat in battle, disease of Egypt, mental illness, oppression, and robbery until they are destroyed and come to sudden ruin. All these predicted curses actually happened to them when they forsook God and rejected his ways.

We live in a time when most people take it lightly to ignore or disobey God's word. But disobedience to God is not a light matter. It is like entering through wide door that leads to destruction. On the other hand, life of obedience to God's word is like entering through the narrow gate, but obedience leads to a life full of joy and blessing. God wants us to take disobedience seriously. If God is against us, we become an eternal loser. More than that, there is no hiding place for us. God doesn't threaten us with the list of curses, but he lets us know the consequences of disobedience so that we may live a blessed life through obedience to him.


Application: Lord, you know what is in my heart. Have mercy on me not to forsake you but to obey your word carefully and follow it with a trembling heart.
One Word: Do I live a life of obedience?