JULY 4, Deuteronomy 11:13-18

When God sent Elijah to prophesy a drought, there seemed to be no prior warning. It seemed like God did not give them a chance to repent. Let us look into history to help us find out the truth.

In Deuteronomy, we find that God had spoken to the people of Israel through Moses, long before they entered the Promised Land. They were told to diligently keep God’s commandments and to love the Lord their God and to serve Him with all their heart and soul. When they serve God whole-heartedly, God will bless them with rain in due season and they will have plentiful harvests. Their cattle will thrive as they can feed on the grass which will be green and abundant. But, He also warned them against worshipping other gods and idols. This is a very important “but”. If they do not serve the Lord God whole-heartedly, He will be angry. God is a jealous God who wants them to be faithful. If they become unfaithful, God will shut the windows of heaven and there will be no rain. Both crops and people will perish. In other words, there will be droughts and famines.

God instructed them to keep His Word in their hearts and in their souls. They must teach their children and all future generations to remember it forever. Alas! The kings and people of Israel (the northern kingdom) became more and more disobedient and idolatrous over time. King Ahab was especially evil under the influence of Jezebel, his wife.

Fill in the blanks. (Words to help: commandments, worship, trust, idols, bless)

To be faithful to God, means to ____________ and pray to only the Lord God. We must not have any other gods or ____________ in our minds. We must diligently love and keep God’s___________________ . It will please God if we ____________ and obey Him. He will ____________ us.

Thought: God will bless me if I keep His commandments.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to worship only You. It is easy to love other things more – perhaps it could be some TV program, or studies, or computer games. Give me the strength Heavenly Father to love only You. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.