The Great Life

        I am Yahweh your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.  Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.  "But My people did not listen to Me; Israel did not obey Me.  So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own plans.  If only My people would listen to Me and Israel would follow My ways, I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes."  Psalm 81: 10-14

  

In Psalm 81 God is pleading with Israel to listen and obey him.  In fact, the subtitle to Psalm 81 in my Bible is "A call to obedience."  What a great title to go along with this "Yes to God" study! We've been learning all about listening and obeying. More specifically Psalm 81:10 says, "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.  Open your mouth wide and I will fill it." In this scripture He is reminding them of WHO He is and what great things He had done for them.  Then He goes on to say, "... open your mouth wide and I will fill it." Meaning He would bless them if they would just listen and receive the instruction, unfortunately they did not obey.

If you read on in Psalm 81 you see that God did not force Himself upon them.  He pleaded for them to change their ways but in the end they rejected Him.  Does this scenario sound familiar?  I think of our country as a whole and how far we are getting from God.  People wonder where God is in our schools and in all the tragedy is but let us not forget that He was taken out, told He is unwelcome.  Our country is slowly removing God in every aspect.  God showed us here in this Psalm that He will not force His way and in 81:12 He says, "So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own plans."   

However, it doesn't have to be this way.  God says that if we obey, he will bless us abundantly.  We may not have too much control in our country but God will bless each of us individually for obeying his Word. As Christians it is our job to teach the next generation about God and what having a relationship with Jesus Christ looks like.  Let us not just go through the motions and check the boxes, let us be radically obedient so that He may fill our mouths full! Together we CAN make a difference for Christ.