Tasting the Good of the Land

2 APRIL

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. 

Isaiah 1:19

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Deuteronomy 28:1-14

In saying Ye shall eat the good of the land, Isaiah refers to the fruits that the earth yields to supply the necessities of life. In some sense, the earth may be said to be unkind when it does not produce its fruits and keeps them, as it were, in its bosom. Yet I have no doubt that Isaiah here alludes to the promises of the law, in which God declares that, for those who fear Him, He will bless the earth and cause it to produce a great abundance of all good things. "The LORD shall make thee plenteous in ... the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee" (Deut. 28:11).

Yet when God offers us the conveniences of earthly life, it is not because He wishes that our attention should be confined to our present happiness. That is what hypocrites value and what entirely occupies their minds. No, He offers us the good of the land so that by contemplation of it we may rise to the heavenly life, and that, by tasting so much goodness, He may prepare us for the enjoyment of eternal happiness. God was especially accustomed to act in this manner toward the ancient people, so that by tasting present benefits, as by a shadow, they might be called toe heavenly inheritance.

This distinction ought to be carefully observed, so that we might apply this instruction to ourselves according to the degree of prosperity with which God has exalted us. The prophet intends to show us that true happiness, with its accompaniments, consists of obedience to God; and that the wicked, by their obstinacy, bring upon themselves every kind of calamity. Therefore all our distresses ought to be ascribed to the sins and crimes that we have committed.

John Calvin 

FOR MEDITATION: It is proper that we welcome earthly blessings for what they are - blessings. Still, we should not forget that they point to greater things beyond this earth. Regardless of how many earthly blessings we may possess, we should strive to obtain heavenly ones. What steps can you take in your life to take neither earthly nor heavenly blessings for granted?

365 Days With Calvin 

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke