Where there’s smoke there’s…
FIRE! In fact some of that smoke was on fire, apparently catching fire midair!
So which comes first: Smoke or fire? If you’re anything like me, there’s usually a lot of smoke before the fire really gets going.
Maybe a better question: Which comes first: God’s goodness or our response to Him?
Deuteronomy 26:14b-15 says, “I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.”
God had already been so good to Israel. They needed to respond so that He could continue to bless them. They could demand His blessing on their own lifestyle, but that just wouldn’t work.
No doubt about it, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” “We love Him because he first loved us.” And. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed.”
God called to us to get saved; we simply needed to respond to His love and His call.
But in everyday life, it’s easy to get the order wrong.
It’s easy to want God’s blessings before we respond to Him, to think something like, “If God gets me out of this jam, I’ll go to church more, pray more, come back to Him…” But we should respond to God because He’s God, He’s good, He’s already blessed us so much.
And let’s never expect God to bless us while we go our own way.
Today’s Bible reading is Deuteronomy 26.