Remember the LORD Your God

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
Deuteronomy 8 (click the link)


KEY VERSES:
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 8:12-18, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
While half of Deuteronomy 8 is about God's faithfulness in the midst of tough times, we don’t want to omit the other half of the picture, especially since it is the portion we most commonly experience. It’s not only bad times that threaten our faith and relationship with God. Good times do, too—although in a different sort of way. 

God is about to bring Israel into a new land, starkly different from the wilderness, a land with ample water, with fields of wheat and barley, with vineyards and fig trees, fruit and olives and honey. A land where they will never hunger, where they will lack nothing. A land so productive that even uncultivable land has value—whatever cannot be farmed for crops will be mined for valuable metals. 

The danger, though, is that prosperity will lull them into forgetting God. Instead of responding in gratitude, they may neglect him and disregard his Word. They may forget his many kindnesses in the exodus from Egypt, or during the wandering through the wilderness. They may take credit for their own success, in essence saying to themselves: “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me” (verse 17). 

This is the greater danger for most of us, too. Moses astutely warns us to beware of the complacency of success. When God blesses us and leads us into a time of peace or prosperity, how many of us tend to forget God? How many of us stop praying for caring about our relationship with God? How many of us become self-sufficient, maybe even haughty? I KNOW I DO! And, based on conversations, I know I'm not alone. When life goes well, we forget God because we think we don't need him. However, life is such that it isn't too long before our complacency lands us in trouble and we desperately seek God again (see also Psalm 30).

For achievers, with good grades, good jobs, and good resumes, the risk is ever-present that we will take credit for what we achieve. Even to the extent that our success derives from hard work, Moses reminds us, it results even more from God’s kindness to us: “Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (verse 18). As we head out to these good jobs, let us take time today to thank God for his grace which provided the native ability, the solid training, and the family support, which undergirds our success. Otherwise, God warns, if we forget him, he will forget us (verses 19-20). Ouch! I don't really want to end this devotional on a negative note. But this warning is given so that we might live. So may it ring in our ears and inspire us to remember the Lord our God.


PRAYER:
Read the following psalm, reflecting on those times in your life in which you have forgotten God.

Psalm 30 (NLT)

1        I will exalt you, LORD, for you rescued me.

You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.

2        O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,

and you restored my health.

3        You brought me up from the grave, O LORD.

You kept me from falling into the pit of death. 

4        Sing to the LORD, all you godly ones!

Praise his holy name.

5        For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his favor lasts a lifetime!

Weeping may last through the night,

but joy comes with the morning. 

6        When I was prosperous, I said,

“Nothing can stop me now!”

7        Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain.

Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered. 

8        I cried out to you, O LORD.

I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,

9        “What will you gain if I die,

if I sink into the grave?

Can my dust praise you?

Can it tell of your faithfulness?

10      Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me.

Help me, O LORD.” 

11      You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.

You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,

12      that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. 

......

 

Lord God, I am ashamed when I think of how quickly I take credit when things in my life are going well. Forgive me for those times when I have forgotten to recognize you as the source of all the blessings in my life. Help me to avoid a life of complacency, of forgetting about when life is easy and returning only when things are difficult. Teach me to live in the spirit of constant thankfulness.

 

 

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom. As I take inventory of my life, I am amazed at the kindness and generosity of God. He's not only led me through a number of difficult, painful circumstances, he's doused my life with blessings upon blessings upon blessings. Family and friends who fill my life with love. Material blessings galore. Restored my life after injury. Led me through college and seminary. Provide a place to serve. This is just the tip of the iceberg. God has lavished my life with grace upon grace, gift upon gift. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).