It's shall be that when you listen to the Mitzvos, Hashem will protect His covenant with you and bestow upon you kindness.
The operative term here is "עקב" - on the heels. Just as in the English version of the term means that something is immediately following something else, so too here. The direct result of doing the Mitzvos is amazing reward.
R' Levi Yitzchak focuses us in on to this unique term:
It's true that HaKadosh Hu promises us tremendous Schar for our good deeds. But the only reason that Torah and Chazal only told us about these rewards (both the ones relevant to Olam HaZeh and HaBa) is because we don't have the capacity to appreciate the real reward.
The real prize is mentioned only once: שכר מצוה מצוה - the reward of a Mitzvah is the Mitzvah itself. This means that in this world we can't understand how much pleasure Hashem gets when we do the right thing, and we don't feel fulfilled by making Him proud of us. It's all too abstract.The real reward will come when we can see and feel the power of our actions. That perception alone will trump everything. That's שכר מצוה מצוה.
The rest of the reward that we do know about is small stuff in comparison. It's the bottom of the pleasure food-chain.
This is the meaning of עקב תשמעון. Says Hashem, "If you do the right things then I'll bless you with all of this stuff, but just know that what I'm listing here is only the עקב, the tail end of it."
There is so much to look forward to in my relationship with Hashem. There is tremendous warmth and love waiting for me. The divine appreciation for my efforts will be worth more than all of חיי עולם הזה and חיי עולם הבא. Hashem! Give me the strength to be motivated by this reality now so that I can make you proud. I want to be an עבד נאמן.
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