Deuteronomy 7-9 CSB
When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. (8:12-14)
These words that were first spoken to the nation of Israel are very timely for us today as well. The Israelites were about to go into the promised land and all of their wildest dreams were about to come true. The endless days of wandering and suffering in the desert were almost over, and before them lay a land of promised rest and bountiful blessing. There was still much work to be done, pagan nations to be driven out and new lives to be started; but still, there was a sense of expectancy and great relief. The Lord (through Moses) reminds them that this is actually the time of their greatest danger.
The most dangerous thing the believer will face is not poverty or persecution—it is abundance and blessing. When we are in the wilderness, with danger on every side we tend to cling to the Lord and humbly trust Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Our pain and our suffering drives us to Him and causes us to look to Him for our every need. This is a good thing and something that the Lord uses to shape us and sand us into a pleasing vessel for His use. Yet, by His grace, we inevitably enter seasons of great blessing and abundance, and it is then that we may forget who our source of supply is and we begin to take credit for ourselves that rightly belongs to God. We can tend to become so wrapped up in what we have that we forget where it came from.
No nation better demonstrates this today than the United States of America. It is a nation that has become so wealthy and so entitled that it has forgotten the foundation on which it was built. We are a “proud” people and that pride will ultimately be our downfall. Israel made the same mistake even after receiving the warning from Moses. Instead of being a light to the nations, they became self-absorbed idol worshippers who ran after every false belief there was. They forgot the God who created them, and ultimately, they paid the price for it. I fear the same thing is happening all over the developed world. Nations that were once built on principles that honor God are now crumbling all around us into decadence and chaos. The lesson for us is clear; never forget where you came from and who brought you there.
