There’s Danger In The Land of Plenty!

Bible Passage:  Deuteronomy 8

Read through today’s passage and see what God said to the Israelites.  They were about to inherit the promised land.  The land that many of their fathers did not see because of their disobedience.  But now… they were so near that they could taste it.

Canaan is just over there!  They were truly free and now all ready to enter the blessings of God.

Quite like us today isn’t it?

We have been saved from being lost in the world in our sin.  We are welcomed into the blessings of God and into His covenant of eternal life.  There is much to give thanks for. There is much to praise God for.

Just imagine this…. soon we will be in heaven!

And also just consider a moment and look at our surroundings today.

We are certainly not living in poverty are we?  Not only that… we have our loved ones around us.  Our friends and wonderful memories!  Things that money cannot buy….

We certainly don’t have anything to complain about, do we? We are very rich and prosperous indeed!!

But considering all these things, that’s why we need to heed the warning God gives us in this passage – just as much as did the people of Israel.

We need to be careful – because in the midst of plenty where we enjoy ourselves, there is a danger that we make the prosperity our main focus – and forget about the God who gave it to us.  We even say in our heart. “say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’” (Deut 8:17).

Today’s passage teaches us the things that we need to do in order to keep from losing sight of God.  It reminds us that we must constantly honour God and praise Him for His care and goodness in our lives.

And if there is anything that we take away from today’s passage, it is just these four words….

REMEMBER!

This is found in verses 1 to 5.  There are so many things for the Israelites to remember!

God leading them in the wilderness…. God humbling them… God feeding them with manna… God clothing and shodding their feet with materials that never wear out… God chastening them as a father who loves his children…

What do you remember in your life of faith so far?  Do they lead you back to God constantly? Or are they a faint memory now?

Have you learned yet, through past experiences, how trustworthy God is? When trials come up in your life, do you take the time to “remember”? That’s an important skill to have when it comes to cultivating a spirit of thanksgiving to God.

OBEY!

This chapter starts out by saying: “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers” (v. 1). That was why God was calling them to remember all that He did for them in the past.

We see the theme repeated now in verse six:  “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him”

Did you notice that word “therefore”? Do you know why He urges them to obey His commandments faithfully? It was because of all that He was about to do for them.

Reading from verses 7 to 9 and seeing what God was going to give them… it was truly paradise!

What a blessing that must have been to a people who were in slavery and have been wandering around in the wilderness for so many years!

Plenty of water!

Plenty of produce!

Plenty of natural resources!

What a wonderful gift God was giving them!! But they weren’t called to obey Him in order to receive all this – as if they were earning it. They were called to obey Him because He was already freely giving it to them. They were to obey Him as a response to His grace toward them.

This reminds me of what apostle John said to us, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

We never earn His love for us by our love toward Him. Our love to Him is always a response to the fact that He first loved us. And how do we love Him? “. . . This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (5:13).

We show our love in gratitude to Him by obeying Him.

THANK HIM!

I had a kind of epiphany when I read verse 10…

“When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.”

Now we normally say our prayers and thank God before we eat.  But here… we are reminded that we are thank Him after we have eaten!

We are to bless and thank God for providing all our daily needs and the abundance that He pours out to us.

And the only appropriate response is to Thank Him!

Socially we are not very expressive people… and we are especially begrudging in giving out praises and thanks.  But maybe we should be more expressive towards God…

Are you thankful to God for the riches that He has poured out on you? Do you express that thanks to Him? Do you worship Him in your thanks? Do you do more thank simply “think” thanks to Him; but do you actively, openly, verbally thank and praise Him?

BEWARE!

It is unfortunate but many of us don’t take time to properly thank God.  I know I have certainly taken God for granted too many times…

And that’s where the danger is in the land of plenty!  We tend to forget the God who has so richly blessed us and think that it is all due to our doing!

The example of King Nebuchadnezzar should serve as a warning to us.  He saw his vast kingdom and was boastful enough to say, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Dan. 4:30). God’s answer to him was that it most certainly was not!!  Not only was his authority taken from him… he was made to crawl around like an insane animal for seven years – until he repented and gave glory to God.

We, too, need to beware when we are the recipients of God’s rich blessing.

And what we must do to “beware” is really found in the early three key words.

We must REMEMBER God’s goodness to us, OBEY His commandments to us and THANK HIM for all His abundant blessings on us.

If we do that, we are truly in the state of BEWARE!

Let’s just read these few verses by Moses again to remind us…

Moses says, “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today . . .” (verse 11); and there, we see the need to obey to God.

In verse 17, he says that we’re to beware, lest you forget, “then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth”; and there, we see the need for actively thanking God.

In verses 19-20, he says, “Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God”.

And finally here, we see the need for remembering God’s past demonstrations of His greatness and faithfulness to us.

Certainly a lot for us to digest today.

Ping An.