Deuteronomy 8:7-9
7For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, 8a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper.
After living in the wilderness, God is leading the people into this land that we often call “the promised land” – and it sounds wonderful: enough water for crops, land that can be planted, groves of trees already producing fruit, resources for building and trading. This is a land that comes with a guarantee, too: you will lack nothing. Wow. That all sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
But the verses that come just after the ones quoted above carry an important reminder: Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth. But remember the Lord your God…” Remember the Lord your God. It can be easy (tempting?) to look around at all that we have – whether it’s a lot or a little – and feel satisfied as if we have accomplished something to attain it all. But if we believe that all we have and are comes from God and belongs to God, then our attitude changes. Instead of patting ourselves on the back at our seeming accomplishments, perhaps we turn our hands upward to God in praise and thanksgiving. Thanks be to God.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
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