God is Seriously Serious

As I read the Torah portion today, it struck home that God is seriously serious about His commandments and rulings.  The good news is that if we obey them, He pours down blessing upon us.  It’s all there in Deuteronomy 28:1-14.  The bad news is…really bad.

As I was reading the curses that come with disobedience, it dawned on me that God spoke more about the consequences of disobedience than He did on the blessings for obedience.  And I thought, “God is seriously serious!”

Now this has nothing to do with accepting the sacrifice of Messiah and being welcomed into the family.  Rather, as head of the family, God is laying out the rules of the house and the consequences for breaking those rules.  And I must say it again – He is serious about it.

As I thought about how harsh it sounded, I realized it is absolutely necessary and makes total sense.  Think about a child going to touch a hot stove.  A parent isn’t going to spend a lot of time expounding on all the wonderful things the child can do with his hand if he follows the rule about not touching the hot stove.

No, they are going to drive home all the terrible pain that will come, and all the horrible things that could happen if he disobeys and touches the hot stove.  After all, the consequences are serious and the parent loves him.

It’s the same with God.  He loves us and wants us to fully understand how bad it is without Him.

So the words may seem harsh, but the situation is serious and the motivation is love.

Seriously.