(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 8:10–20, “When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.”
Moses had just told Israel that the Lord took them through the wilderness to humble them, among other things. Now the Lord wanted them to be prepared for life in the Promised Land. They made an agreement with the Lord that if they obeyed Him then He would bless them in everything that they did. However, prosperity comes with some problems. There is a tendency to say that the Lord must think we are pretty good if we are prosperous. That is entirely part of sinful condition. When the Lord does good things for us, He acts in grace and not because we deserve it. After all, He is the creator and we are just mere specks in His creation, what do we have that can impress the Lord God? Israel was reminded to remember. This is the most important part of our relationship with the Lord. Israel were slaves in Egypt and the Lord brought them through the desert for Egypt is surrounded by desert. There were fierce snakes and scorpions, it didn’t rain in the desert during their wandering. The Lord provided water from the rocks for them. He fed them in a place where there was no food. The Lord did all this to humble Israel. The Lord humbles His people, not so that we will feel bad about ourselves but so that we will feel good about the Lord. If we keep our minds fixed on the Lord and all the good things that He has done for us then we will appreciate His goodness. If we look at our circumstances we will lose faith, either because we feel proud about ourselves of because we feel bitter about our circumstances. Whatever we have comes from the Lord and it is important for each person, who believes in Him, to fix their minds on the source and not the gift.
No comments:
Post a Comment