10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
Deuteronomy 8:10-18
Does anything feel safer than a nice house, full of everything you need? Lots of fine possessions, property, and money in the bank. Maybe to own a business that cares for you and your family that is interesting and just seems to make a profit without any effort.
Safety is all too often linked to possessions and blessings in my mind but here in Deuteronomy these blessings come with a warning of impending danger. God tells Israel if they accept all these blessings He is giving then without walking in careful obedience then it will be the ruin of them. Herds and flocks that multiply, gold and silver, and expensive houses in established communities without thankfulness will be their doom.
That’s how it is, isn’t it? We are so quick to feel that we deserve something. We deserve better than what we have, we deserve more than what those other people have. We work hard, or we are smart, or we have suffered enough, and we start to think the only way that God can show love is through comfortable blessings that pay our bills or that we can hold in our hands.
We are so quick to give ourselves credit when we receive it. The God who controls all blessings and is so intricately involved in our lives is overlooked and we ourselves as providers. We earn the paychecks, we invest, we make the right choices at the right times and we forget that the Lord owns it all. Every cent, every bit of ground, every job, every minute, every breath, every heartbeat.
We often chuckle at Old Testament Israel and their ability to forget what God had done the moment He finished doing it. The truth is that I am “prone to wander” like the song says and no less so than Israel. I know I am not alone.
Without thankfulness, there will be pride. Without obedience, there is no relationship with God. Without intentionality I will drift toward self-seeking, self-serving, arrogance and it would be the end of me if it wasn’t for our gracious Savior.
God directed me to this scripture about a year ago and put some real fear into my heart around it. I wish I could say that I nailed it right away, but He is so wise and told me then that I would need reminders. I went into my calendar and set a few reminders a year, but even that isn’t enough all by itself. I forget and become self focused and complacent. He deserves the glory, and I still need to learn humility.
When things are hard and uncomfortable I am quick to look to Him for relief and notice it when it comes, but when things are comfortable and easy my heart hardens up and my eyes get blurry. My faithful Master points me again and again to His words and His warning. “Watch yourself and be careful to thank me, follow me, and obey me. Do what I ask you to do, otherwise all these blessings that I’m sending you will turn your heart away from me.”
I don’t want to be the Christian who says that God is not allowed to bless my finances, family, career, possessions, etc! Bless me, God! I just need His help to guide my reaction and to keep my heart soft to Him. I need Him to keep my eyes open to those that I can help with what He has blessed me with.
And if He takes it all away, then I need to be ready to praise Him then too. It’s all His anyway, so lets take a moment again today to thank Him for all of His blessings, and it there’s something we are being disobedient in lets change that!
12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13
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