Living in obedience to God’s commandments brings rewards, not just in the life to come but also in this life (Psalm 19:11). Those who walk in accordance with God’s laws will experience many blessings. These blessings will be noticed by others. For example, unbelievers will see the Lord's blessings in our marriages when we love and respect our spouses. Unbelievers will see the Lord's blessings on our family life when fathers and mothers bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Our neighbours will see the Lord's blessings on our work when we seek first the kingdom of the Lord and his righteousness. This does not mean that faithful Christians will not experience hardships, but even in those hardships Christians will experience God’s blessings. When others in the world can see that the Lord is with us and is blessing us, as this pericope teaches us, they may well be drawn with envy to follow us (Zechariah 8:23), in order to experience these same blessings in their lives.
7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’