What
are the obstacles in reaching blessings of God
Sin separates us from
blessings
As we will clearly see in the following verse which I present, sin places an obstruction for our blessings and the good things which God wishes to pour upon us. Therefore, it is not to be taken lightly to postpone to the future to stop sinning. In addition, that would be a lack of respect towards God, and also it is something which harms us, personally inasmuch as towards society. The majority of the damage we cause ourselves is a result of our lack of obedience to the commandments of God.
“Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.” (Jer 5:25)
There are times in which God punishes us, because we deserve punishment as a result of something we have done, and He is no respecter of persons, as Acts 10:34 declares. Other times, the harm we experience is for the sake of learning from that experience. However, at other times, they are a result of our doing, without the desire to punish us or the desire to teach us. We could learn something from said experience, but it was not it's purpose.
Our life, in relation to the
commandments and our misfortunes is much like the "Operator's Manual" which
accompanies most apparatus and electronics we purchase.
If we follow the manufacturer's instructions, the apparatus will work to our benefit, if we do not, we will suffer the consequences.
At times we think
we know everything there is to
know, but it is not
so. God gives us commandments
that many believe were geared towards those that lived
“back
then”, or that were given to us for no
reason; they are not obeyed and thus there are
consequences.
I personally had that experience with
a car I owned.
I was using cheap oil in my car. The oil had good viscosity and since I know about physics, chemistry, etc., I thought I was doing the right thing. I was with a friend who was a schooled mechanic and when he saw the cheap oil I was using in my car, he advised me to use an expensive brand of oil. Since I knew that the oil I was using had sufficient viscosity, I did not see the need to spend more money in better quality oil, thinking that I knew more because I had studied physics and chemistry, etc..
After three or four years, the engine in my car burned out and I came to my friend, and together we removed the old engine and installed a new one. When we finished, my friend said, “Let's see why this motor burned out.” We opened it and upon removing the casing, we notice the tube which take in the oil contained a screen so that foreign bodies would not penetrate the engine. The screen was blocked by solid carbon and only three squares remained open for the aspiration of the oil. Not enough oil could enter through such a small opening when I accelerated the car and therefore, the engine burned out.
When my friend saw the tube, he said, “You should always use the most expensive oil you can afford in your car because more costly oils contain ingredients that dissolve carbon and prevent carbon from sticking to parts of the motor and that carbon is removed every time the oil is changed. If you use cheaper oil, the carbon sticks all over the engine as you see in this case.”
At that moment, I remembered and replied, “You told me three or four years ago to use the best oil I could afford, but you did not tell me why, and therefore, I didn't listen. I thought I knew it all.” God does not always tell us why we should obey a commandment, but if we do not obey it, in time, we will burn out some of the “motors” which run our life.