Blessings and Curses

Deuteronomy 28 ESV
1 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

9 ''The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.

15 “But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

45 “All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. 46 They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. 47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things.''

I chose just a few verses from this chapter; it goes into detail of the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience. (14 verses on the fruit of obedience and 54 verses on the fruit of disobedience). This chapter applies both to the individual and the nation. Just as a side note, it is interesting to see what the economic/political results are of obedience and disobedience (vs. 1, 7-10, 12-13, 25-26, 33-34, 36-37, 43-44, 49-51).

I would like to just point out the attitude in obedience that brings the blessings. Though in the ''curse'' section, verse 47 gives us a clue: ''...Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart.'' I am reminded of what our attitude should be about giving in 2 Corinthians 9:7, "not grudgingly or out of necessity.'' Shouldn't this be the attitude we take in all that we do for the Lord, including obedience? (Col 3:23) And the last thing I ask would be, isn't this attitude in itself an incredible blessing?