A CHANGE OF HEART
Opening Prayer
I praise You, Faithful One, for Your great love.
Read Deuteronomy 30:1–10
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Prosperity After Turning to the Lord
30 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes[a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Footnotes:
a Deuteronomy 30:3 Or will bring you back from captivity
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Have you ever known the blessing of a friendship or marriage based on absolutely unconditional love?God knew that Israel would stray from him, even after all he had done for them in rescuing them from Egypt and providing everything for them. Still God knew that they would be unfaithful, they would experience the curses listed previously in the book, and they would be scattered across the world.
And yet God still anticipated that one day they would turn back to him and start to obey him again. It would not be possible for them to go so far away that there could be no way back. Their turning back to God would mean great blessing and prosperity.
From verse 6 God identifies what this people would ultimately need—a transformed heart. Here at the center of the old covenant is anticipation that for the new covenant, heart change is needed. Centuries later, other prophets, like Ezekiel, would again anticipate the importance of a transformed heart.
God does not simply give us instruction to obey. He does not simply ask us to live out of gratitude for what he has done. In the new covenant that Jesus has made possible, we receive new hearts that delight to obey our God!
Apply
The more you know someone, the more you can love them. This week as you read, write down every characteristic you discover about God.
Closing prayer
Thank You, God, that You give me a new heart to delight in You.
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