How Blessed Do You Need to Be to Forget God… by Pastor Matt Swiatkowski
Today’s Passage – Deuteronomy 6 – 8 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – 2 Corinthians 1 – 4; Proverbs 3; Psalms 11 – 15)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 119:105
Read the “0303 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from today’s passage – “Remember Who Butters Your Bread,” and “Let’s Get Back to the Bible.”
“And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware 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.”
The LORD God gave the children of Israel a land they did not build, and he gave the warning to be careful not to forget him. How is that even possible? Yet it happened because they did forget him and served the gods of the people they just conquered. The book of Judges records just how rotten the people had become. The description of their sins is appalling, and you wonder how they could forget God and commit such terrible sins. Yet we don’t have to go back in time 3500 years ago; we just have to look at the last 75 years. The generation that fought WWII can not be mentioned enough. My dad was the oldest child and quit school in sixth grade to support the family because his dad was a drunk. He knew what it was like to go hungry and wear ragged clothes. He knew the threat of eviction and to have next to no possessions of his own. He then went off to war and sent most of his money back to mom so she could care for the children at home. After the war he married mom, bought a house and worked tirelessly to provide for his wife and six children. We never missed a meal and always had clothes to wear. My dad is typical of that generation; they went without and most of their children did not.
Today we live in a land blessed beyond measure and but are we a grateful nation? Do we find ourselves on our knees thanking God for all his blessings while we enjoy all the stuff we have? The answer is clear; it’s no. We have become ungrateful, we look at what we don’t have and are angry when the neighbor is blessed more than us. Is the church house full during mid-week service? No, because the stuff we are blessed with keeps us from God. The mid-week prayer service was born out of need for revival as people realized they needed God. Today who needs God when we are enjoying the fruit of others labor. How many pray for work only to let that job keep them from serving the Lord? How many prayed for a spouse and for children only to have them keep them from God? How many times has a loved one been sick, and you prayed, and God heard. Did you show God gratitude with service to him? Did you open your wallet and sacrifice in giving because you understood it was God who gave you that money in the first place?
I think the answer is clear to all these questions. While there is always the remnant that are thankful, the vast majority go on with all their blessings, only to gripe and complain about what they don’t have. We will miss church and fail to serve in church because our stuff prevents us from doing so. The nation of Israel would go off into bondage in the book of Judges and I fear about the future of our nation and wonder what fate awaits a people who have had more than any other generation in history. I trust this is not true of you my friend, but that instead you live with a heart filled with gratitude towards God and are truly thankful for all he has done for you.
Posted in Devotions by Matt Swiatkowski with 7 comments.
Great Stuff! Very true.
Great post. Thank you.
What a great message and reminder for me. Often times I get depressed because God saw fit to take my daughter home to be with him. But I must be thankful and grateful that because of the promises in the Bible, she is with him for eternity and I will see her again. Thank you Jesus. Amen
Amen!
Such a good reminder. Thank you.
Thanks for the reminder! He gives and He takes away.
So good! I know in my own life I am to quick to complain and to slow to be thankful!