WHEN YOU HAVE EATEN AND ARE FULL
DEUTERONOMY 8:10-14 NKJV
DEUTERONOMY 8:10-14 NKJV
10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
11 "Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
OBSERVATION:
What a great text for today's devotional. When you have eaten and are full. This sounds a whole lot like Thanksgiving. Many who are reading or hearing this devotional today have eaten way more than normal and are totally full.
In this chapter, Moses is reminding the nation of Israel of the blessings of obeying God.
God was bringing the nation into a good land. A land where they would eat without scarcity. A land where they would lack nothing.
God's plan for Israel is that His blessings would impact every area of their lives. Their herds and flocks. Their gold and silver. Everything. There is no way we can read this chapter and come away believing God wanted His people living in poverty and starvation. God wanted His people blessed.
However, with all this blessing came a warning. The warning was that when God's blessings had impacted their lives, they were not to forget God. When you have eaten and are full, don't let your heart be lifted up with pride. And do not forget God.
This is a great insight into an element of pride.
Pride forgets God. And then pride will go a step further and take credit for all the blessings and increase that God gave.
So, we could determine that the key to not giving in to pride is living in lack and want. That if you are barely getting by pride has no room to grow.
However, this is not what God instructed the people to do. Instead of rejecting God's blessings, enjoy them. And remember to bless the Lord. When you have eaten and are full, give thanks and praise to God.
APPLICATION:
This is a great Thanksgiving reminder. We pray and give thanks before the meal. And we can give thanks after we have eaten and are full.
And tomorrow, on Black Friday, we can give thanks. And Saturday, on a regular Saturday, we can give thanks. And Sunday. You get the picture.
Praising and thanking God for what He has done is so wise. Blessing the Lord helps us remember Him and take the focus off ourselves. We have so much to be thankful for. God has delivered us from spiritual darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His Son. We will be thanking and blessing Him forever and ever. Happy Thanksgiving.
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father thank You for all You have done for me. Thank you for the blessings in my life that are sourced in You. I purpose in my heart to not forget You or what You have done. I am thankful !