Seize the Moment – Day 654

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31
Dec '21

Seize the Moment – Day 654

Posted on Dec 31, 2021 by Jerry Ingalls in Devotions, General |

31
Dec '21

 

The Curse of an Iron Yoke!

Deuteronomy 28

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, December 31.

 

Happy New Year’s Eve! May the Lord bless you in 2022!

 

The Lord has given each of us a choice—blessings or curses! Moses gave us the promises of the covenant in Deuteronomy 27-28 as He closed out his second giving of the Law. After a litany of covenant curses in Deuteronomy 27:15-26 and 28:15-68, you can feel the heavy burden of disobedience to the covenant of God. To capture the consequences of disobedience, God gave His people the image of an iron yoke in Deuteronomy 28:47-48:

 

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

 

Furthermore, Deuteronomy 28:65 connected the yoke imagery to the biblical theme of rest:
 
“Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul.”
 
This would have been immediately contrasted with God’s promise of rest for His people when they entered the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 25:19.

 

The yoke is an agricultural image that depicts a choice: God’s people are either in the easy yoke of covenant blessings where they have peace and find rest for their soul through a faithful relationship with God (Matthew 11:28-30) or they are in the hard yoke of covenant curses where they find weariness and despair because of their rebellion against God (Jeremiah 28:13-14). The choice comes down to submission to God and His ways.

 

Seize the moment and find rest for your soul in the easy yoke of Jesus. It’s your choice!
 
God bless you!
 
 
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
 

YOUTUBE:

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Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.

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