Day 18: Living out of God's abundance

In Deuteronomy 28, we can see God’s heart to bless His people in every way when they listen to His voice – spiritual, physical and material. During His days on earth, Jesus lived in the abundance of His Father. Jesus was not ‘rich’ in the sense of having a large bank account or possessions. But He certainly had abundance. He was able to feed about twelve thousand people with five loaves and two fishes. That is not poverty. He was never worried. He was never under pressure. He never panicked. He never doubted that His Father’s goodness would supply everything He needed. And the Father never failed Him. Jesus imparted this attitude to His disciples. When He sent them out, He said: Freely you have received; freely give’ (Matthew 10:8). He did not send them out to get; He sent them out to give. That is the essence of abundance.

Today, let's look at the material curses for disobedience to hearing God’s voice. Going back to Deuteronomy 28:29:

“And you shall grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in his darkness, [you see, there's a total inability to find the right way through life] and you shall not prosper in your ways...” (NAS)

Notice that just as abounding in prosperity is a blessing, so not prospering in our ways is a curse. And then still more completely and vividly, Moses states it again in Deuteronomy 28:47-48, and here the blessing and the curse are set directly side by side.

“Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things.”

That is the result of obedience that we serve God with joy and a glad heart for the abundance of all things. Abundance is the outcome of obedience. But the alternative, and it's a very grim alternative, is stated in verse 48 for those who will not serve the Lord with joy and a glad heart:

“Therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD shall send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.” (NAS)

You couldn't have the two alternatives more clearly pictured than in those two verses. The results of obedience: the abundance of all things, serving God with joy and a glad heart. The results of disobedience: we have to serve not the Lord but our enemies, and we serve him in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things.

As I was meditating on those words one day, I saw that this is a description of absolute poverty. A person who is hungry, has nothing to eat; thirsty, has nothing to drink; naked, no clothes to wear; and lack of all things. That person is in a condition of absolute poverty. It is impossible to picture greater poverty than that: hunger, thirst, nakedness, and lack of all things. Poverty is not a mark of holiness. What a joy and release came into my own soul when I saw this one day so clearly, that poverty is not for the children of God. For God's redeemed people, the will of God is abundance that we may serve Him with joy and with gladness of heart.