Deuteronomy 7: 6-15

6 For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.

for me.. the idea that God considers me a special treasure.. His own special treasure... how awesome is that.. we strive so hard to be accepted and love and considered valuable.. and all along.. God has felt we are His own special treasure...

7 “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. 10 But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. 11 Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.

God didn't choose us because we were big and important.. in fact we were the least of all.. it was simply that He loves us and was keeping an oath He swore to our ancestors... I know that my mother prayed for me all my life... imagine that God spoke to people in our families years and years ago.. and promised them to do things for us.. to keep us in covenant with Him.. to prosper us and give us a hope and a future... isn't it amazing to think that people we didn't even know were praying for us.. we should be doing that too.. we should be praying for the generations that are still to come... we should be concerned about their future too..

we need to be obedient and faithful because God is surely still in the consequences business.. even though no one likes to imagine that anymore...

12 “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. 14 You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. 15 And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!

there are blessings associated with the obedience to the Lord, just like the consequences for disobedience.. I desire to be on the obedient side... I desire to have open eyes to see when I am doing something that is unpleasing to God.. I desire to do what He asks of me.. I desire to be faithful to Him and He is always faithful to me..