Pearls of the Word

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Your strength shall be spent in vain

by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf

"And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit" (Leviticus 26:20).

When the people of Israel obey God, the earth yields its produce, trees yield their fruit... and their enemies fall before them (Leviticus 26:1-13). The above verse follows on from verse 14 saying, "If you do not obey me... your strength shall be spent in vain".

Similarly, we spend our strength to no effect when we confront our various challenges, using our human nature because it is deaf to the voice of God. When Paul wrote, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10), he wants us to understand that our spirit (our new nature) is well fortified [dunamised, boosted] by the Spirit of God. Our human nature cannot be strengthened because it is not subjected to the Holy Spirit (our spirit).