Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NLT) - 19 "Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Deuteronomy 28:1-10 (NLT) Deuteronomy 28:15-24 (NLT)

The breakdown

What is the blessing?

• It is a declaration about you from God's throne.
• It is the natural result of living God's way.
• It is internal.
• It is external.
  • It affects your family.
  • It affects your possessions.
  • It affects your health.
  • It affects your security.

What is the curse?

• It is all the the previous points in reverse.
• You will get struck again and again. It will confuse you, and you will despair. (Deuteronomy 28:20)

The blessing is EASY, and it is a CHOICE.

The blessing is not difficult.

• It's not FAR AWAY. The ancients believed that the meaning of life had to be teased from the gods. God says, "It's not hard!"
• Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NLT) - 11 "This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. 12 It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?' 13 It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?' 14 No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it."

The blessing is a CHOICE.

• Deuteronomy 30:15-16 (NLT) - 15 "Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. 16 For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.
• If you are not living under the blessing, it is because of your choices.

How do I receive the blessing?

LOVE the Lord.

• 1 Corinthians 16:22 (NLT) - 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come!

OBEY His commands.

Deuteronomy 30:16 (NLT) - 16 "For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy."

In the Old Testament - the Law

In the New Testament - the Son

• What has He said about His Son?
  • Luke 9:35 (NLT) - 35 Then a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him."
• What has His Son said?
  • Luke 6:46-49 (NLT) - 46 "So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say? 47 I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins."

Do this FAITHFULLY.