“The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 6:10-12 NLT
But did they forget the Lord? Absolutely. And, we tend to do the same.
First of all, God breaks his own principle of sowing and reaping to bless Israel. Yes, the people had it hard! They had only known multiple generations (400) years of slavery. They were learning the hardest lesson of all, dependency on a new master, a loving benevolent God and father to their people. But God also did the extraordinary – provided where they had not sown, had not worked, had not waited and had not invested. He would GIVE them large prosperous cities, fully stocked housing, water producing wells and vineyards and olive trees they did not plant nor tend to. God would give them a fully functional city-system that was already producing enough to not only sustain them, but also give them financial income when they sold or bartered goods in the future. All ready to go. God believed they needed it to get started.
He only asked them NOT to forget about him – and they eventually did.
I think this is a condition of our sin, of our humanity. I’m not saying we can’t push against it or even win to some degree, but it’s woven deep into our DNA. And, I don’t think the curse just effects our snobbery to God, I think it happens in our relationships to one another as well.
I believe we have a short memory and a very long selfish desire that plays the “what have you done for me lately” track in our brains. I have to stop and force my self, shake down my memories to remember what God (and friends) has done for me and sift out the gratitude as it is surfaces.
I must remember, not only being RESCUED but also provided for and loved.
PRAYER:
Dad,
I read about the amazing journey of Israel and see the template script of humanity overlaid in the stories.
I’ve know for a long time that I can’t look at the stubbornness, forgetfulness or the rebellion in their lives and not see those same qualities staring back at me in history’s mirror.
Yet, I know how the story ends now, they did not. I know the whole truth of the price of redemption, they did not. And still, even knowing and pursing the truth, I am, we are, still haunted by my failures, my shadows, my sin.
This is where faith truly makes another difference in our story compared to theirs. Abraham believed! And it was accounted to him as righteousness.
So it is with me.
I believe.
I can either wallow and whine or I can confess and keep moving forward. This helps me not forget what you’ve done.
And, I am eternally grateful.