“And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” - Deuteronomy 6v10-12
Why is it that people tend to only remember the Lord when they need His help? When things are going well, folks tend to almost take it for granted that things are going to go well for them.
God knew this tendency. As Israel prepared to enter the land, God told them of the blessings they would receive:
Cities they did not build
Houses full of provisions
Wells they did not dig
Trees they did not plant
God was giving gifts they did not work for; they were given only by His grace. But He knew the temptation – “Beware lest you forget the Lord.” He knew that with prosperity comes a tendency to self-sufficiency. When they “had it all” they would be tempted to forget Him.
Men do not change. Nations that once honoured God for His grace and mercy to them have not forgotten Him. Churches that once had to rely on God to meet every single need, now operate as multi-million dollar businesses dependent on “profit margins” between income and outgo.
Sadly, Individuals can do the same thing. Once we saw God take care of every single need, depending on Him to pay every bill and meet every need. As time goes by we are able to get by. When that happens we can forget what it means to depend in Him. We stop relying on Him and begin relying on our own resources and abilities.
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