The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them,

you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

Deuteronomy 28:13

One day at work, kids were playing basketball, using street rules. There was no referee to call fouls and keep the game running smoothly and so the game didn’t run smoothly. A co-worker suggested that they just play for fun and that way they wouldn’t have winners and losers. One older boy immediately responded, “Oh, no, there will be losers!”  So simple, even a kid can get it! In the game of life, like the game of basketball, there will be winners and there will be losers.

God’s desire is that we be winners. He mapped out very clearly in His word the differences between winning and losing. Winning doesn’t mean a higher point at the end of the game or a raise in pay or even the accolades of others. Winning in this chapter of Deuteronomy means being blessed, blessed by God. His blessings include prosperity (sufficiency for our journey), health, provision, protection, favor, and increase in the things we put our hand to in His name. Losing means falling short of inheriting those blessings.

We can be a Christian and still lose out on those blessings. Often times, we lose because we simply don’t know that these are God’s will for us. Some people have taught that living a life of lack and want is somehow more spiritual than prospering. Please know that when I say prospering, I am not simply talking about money, although that is part of it. But imagine for a moment, your life with no lack.

Imagine having peace and joy and knowing that you are blessed by God in the things that You do.  Imagine a body that functioned perfectly according to the word of God.  Picture yourself wherever you go being surrounded with favor simply because you are His. Knowing that what you put your hand to will prosper because He has so blessed you. Knowing that your children and your grandchildren are blessed and abound in prosperity. Would that change your day, your week, your life?

Some people will lose because they don’t believe that they deserve all that God has for them. They are right, of course, they don’t, neither do I. That’s why Jesus taking our sins is so remarkable. I don’t deserve these blessings from God, but I am heir to them because of Jesus covering me in His righteousness.

There is an “if” in this promise. This promise is conditioned upon our paying attention to the commands of God, to taking God at His word and trusting in that word even if the evidence around us tells us differently. One day the evidence will fall in line with the word of God and we will see that we are indeed winners!

Precious Jesus, what a wonder You are. Without Your sacrifice, I would be forever excluded from the blessings of our God. Thank You for allowing me to share in Your inheritance and for taking my sins so that I can have what I need for success in this journey I am on. Show me where I am failing to keep Your commands and forgive me and lead me to victory, I ask in Your mighty name, amen.

I would love to hear from you. Please let me know if I can be praying for you as well.

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