Deuteronomy 28:2
"And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God."
Rarely do you find a promise as open ended as the promise in the verse above.
God promises that His blessings will not only come upon you, but they will overtake you if you hearken to His voice. You would be hard pressed to find a Christian who doesn't want the blessings of God. One of the reasons we go to church is to learn how to get God's blessings upon us.
What is interesting is that God says His blessings will "overtake thee." To be overtaken means two things. One, it means they will suddenly come upon you, but it also means that you are moving in a direction in which others must catch up to you. What direction is it that you must be headed for them to overtake you? It is the direction of doing right. In other words, God's blessings not only don't come upon those who are doing wrong, but they also don't come upon those who are not doing right. In order to be overtaken, there must be motion, and doing right is an action or motion. There are many people who don't do wrong, but they also don't do right. These people will not see the blessings of God. If you want God's blessings to overtake you, then you must be doing right for them to catch up to you.
Furthermore, not only must you be doing right, but God says that you must "hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God." To "hearken" carries several definitions that are important to being overtaken with blessings. Let me show you what they mean and how you can apply them to your life.
First, it means you are listening to God's Word. There are several ways we listen to the Word of God. We listen to the Word of God by reading It on a daily basis. We listen to the Word of God by listening to preaching. We listen to the Word of God by hearing those who are teaching It. Friend, you can't be hearkening to God's voice if you're not in Sunday school and church. Yes, you can most certainly read It daily on your own, but you must also hear It with your ears. This only happens at church. You will never be overtaken with blessings if you don't hear God's Word.
Second, it means to hear It with eagerness. This is interesting because I find many people hear the preaching, but they really don't hear it. What I mean by this statement is they are audibly listening with their ears, but they are not listening with their heart. If you want God's blessings to overtake you, then you must be eager to eat up the Word of God. Listen with the intent to change. Listen with the intent to respond. That is what hearkening to the voice of the LORD is all about.
Finally, it means you obey what you hear. You will never be overtaken with God's blessings if you are not obeying what you hear God's Word tell you to do. Sadly, I watch many people come to church and hear the Word of God only to walk out and disobey what they just heard. You will never be overtaken with blessings until you obey what God's Word tells you to do.
Being overtaken by God's blessings is as simple as listening and doing. Yet, not only will you receive God's blessings, they will overtake you. In other words, they will control your life. This is the benefit of doing right. I challenge you today to become eager to hear and do what God tells you to do. In doing so, you will find God's blessings will suddenly come upon you and overtake you as you serve Him.