Today I read 1 Kings 14 where the words of Doctrine and Covenants 82:10 are proved. Jeroboam seeks a boon of the Lord for his son who is sick. However, Jeroboam was not a righteous man, he did not follow the commandments of God at all. As such, when he came to ask the Lord for help, the Lord did not help him. And I do not view this as the Lord being cruel, when we don't follow the commandments, the Lord can choose to bless us or not.
There are a myriad of reasons to follow the commandments of God, and wanting blessings is certainly one of them. It is not the best reason to do what God says, that would be because we love Him, but it is not the worst reason for choosing to obey either, fear of punishment. It is the same with following our parents or our bosses at work. We can follow the rules for fear of punishment, because we are promised rewards or because we respect/love them. All three ways will accomplish the same result, we will be obedient, but if you were the parent or the boss, wouldn't you rather your children/employees respect you rather than fear you? I'm sure it's the same with God. He'd much rather have our love, than our fear. I think the blessings might be the same either way, but the relationship we build with our Heavenly Father isn't and neither is the outpouring of the Spirit. It is MUCH better to obey out of love. Try it and see! Until tomorrow.
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