{"id":912,"date":"2011-06-14T01:00:52","date_gmt":"2011-06-14T08:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/?p=912"},"modified":"2011-06-11T22:31:02","modified_gmt":"2011-06-12T05:31:02","slug":"god-blesses-obedience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/14\/god-blesses-obedience\/","title":{"rendered":"God Blesses Obedience"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnd all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be \"\"in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep\u201d <\/em>(Deuteronomy 28:2-4)<\/em><\/p>\n

God delights in blessing His children!<\/strong> What did God promise the Israelites, in Deuteronomy 28, if they listened to His voice and obeyed His commands? \u201cAll these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee.\u201d<\/em> I love<\/strong> that picture. I can just imagine those blessings chasing after the Israelites, rushing to catch up to them, and joyfully grabbing hold of them and overtaking them!<\/p>\n

Help your children understand how God blesses obedience.<\/strong> A short study of Deuteronomy 28 and some picture drawing will deepen their understanding.<\/p>\n

Make or purchase some sort of empty books<\/strong> that your children can draw pictures in. This can be as simple as several pages of paper stapled together to form a book or a folder or notebook with sheet protectors in it that drawings can be inserted into. Or you might choose to invest in spiral or bound sketchbooks or empty journals. The book should have at least 18 pages in it. You will want at least 30 pages if you choose to have your children illustrate the entire chapter.<\/p>\n

Spend several sessions reading portions of Deuteronomy 28 aloud to your children. <\/strong>Verses 1-14 explain the many ways that God promised to bless<\/strong> the Israelites if they chose to obey Him. Verse 15 then opens with, \u201cBut\u2026\u201d and goes on to explain the curses<\/strong> that would come if they chose not to listen to God and obey Him. God wants to bless us and will do so when we obey, but He will ultimately curse those who choose to rebel against Him.<\/p>\n

Read and discuss Deuteronomy 28:1-2 together.<\/strong> Then choose which level of instructions you want to use with your children.<\/p>\n

For very young children:<\/strong> Starting with verse 3, have them draw an illustration for each verse, using one page of their books for each verse. Consider reading from a translation that they will understand, and be ready to explain what the verses mean. (Use an online Bible commentary if you need help.)<\/p>\n

For older children: <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>These instructions require your children to follow directions that might confuse younger children. The book, made with these directions, will contrast blessings and cursings on facing pages across from each other, while the simpler instructions (above) will result in a book that shows all the blessings at the beginning, with all the cursings afterwards. Read through the instructions and judge which version will work best for you and your children.<\/p>\n

For older children, the first page (on the right) when the children open their books, should be the title page, and can be labeled \u201cThe Blessings and Cursings of Obedience and Disobedience.\u201d Number the rest of the pages in the book, starting with page 2 on the back side of the title page.<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 28:3 starts by saying that the people will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. Have your children draw a picture to illustrate this statement. They should draw their picture on page 2, the back side of their title page. The following page, page 3 should be left blank<\/strong>. They will come back to this page later to illustrate verse 16 which says that those who disobeyed God would be cursed<\/strong> in the city and cursed<\/strong> in the field.<\/p>\n

Next read verse 4, \u201cBlessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.\u201d<\/em> Other translations besides the King James Version will probably be easier for the children to understand. The English Standard Version of this verse says, \u201cBlessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Talk about this verse. What does it mean? Help your children understand that God is promising the people lots of children, lots of produce from their gardens, and lots of babies animals from all their livestock.<\/p>\n

Turn the page, and on page 4 of their books, have your children illustrate verse 4. Continue on through the chapter until you have read, discussed, and illustrated all the verses through verse 14. Illustrate the following verses on these designated pages:<\/p>\n