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Deuteronomy 8.10-18 (NIV)
When you have eaten and
are satisfied, praise the Lord . . . for the good land he has given you. Be
careful that you do not forget the Lord. . . Otherwise . . . when you build
fine houses and settle down, and when your flocks grow large and your silver
and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become
proud and you will forget the Lord . . . who brought you . . . out of the land
of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert. . . . He gave you
manna to eat . . . . to humble and to test you so that . . . it might go well
with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced
. . . wealth for me.” But remember the Lord . . . for it is he who gives you
the ability to produce wealth.
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| We have not been interested in Himself but only in His blessings.* |
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We
call upon the Lord in our distress and he delivers us. Perhaps he provided a
job when you desperately needed one. Maybe he healed a loved one from disease. Remember
how close you felt to the Lord when you were begging him for his blessings? Did
you pray without ceasing – until your prayers were answered? What
about you who have been blessed abundantly with health and wealth and love? Do
you think you earned it? Deserved it? What do you have that the Lord didn’t
provide?
These
verses are a warning against forgetting God when things are going well. Moses
reminds the Children of Israel of where they have been and “arms them against
the temptations of a prosperous condition.”* We, too, may be in danger of becoming “spoiled
brats.” Don’t forget to thank the Lord for what he has done for you.
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| Whatever they had the comfort of, God must have the glory of.* |
*Quote sources available upon request.
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