What role does obedience play in receiving God's blessings, as seen in 2 Kings 8:6? Setting the Scene in 2 Kings 8:6 • Elisha had earlier warned the Shunammite woman: “Arise, go with your household and live wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine” (2 Kings 8:1). • She obeyed immediately, leaving her fields and home for seven years. • On returning, she appealed to the king. Scripture records the outcome: “When the king asked the woman, she told him the story. So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, ‘Restore all that was hers and all the proceeds of the field from the day she left the land until now.’” (2 Kings 8:6) Observations on the Shunammite’s Obedience • Her response was prompt; no debate, no delay. • Obedience cost her something—temporary loss of land, income, security. • Seven years later, she received not only her property but also every penny the land had produced while she was gone. • The blessing came in God’s timing, after the season of obedience had run its course. The Pattern: Obedience Invites Restoration and Increase 1. God speaks → clear command. 2. Servant obeys → often at personal risk or sacrifice. 3. God acts → restoration, protection, multiplied blessing. 4. Testimony results → the king and court witnessed God’s faithfulness. Principles for Today • Obedience positions us under the flow of God’s covenant blessings. • Blessing may be delayed but is never denied when obedience is genuine. • God’s restorations exceed original losses; He pays back with interest. • Our stories of obedience become living proof of God’s reliability to others. Supporting Scripture • “If you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God…all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you.” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2) • “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth…but you shall meditate on it day and night…then you will make your way prosperous.” (Joshua 1:8) • “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:28) • “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me… and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” (John 14:21) • “But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and continues in it…this person will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:25) Obedience, then, is the doorway through which God’s pledged favor enters, turning loss into abundance, just as He did for the Shunammite in 2 Kings 8:6. |
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