Don’t Forget About God

“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul?” Matthew 16:26

Deuteronomy 8 says, “God is bringing you into a good land..a land which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing.” The passage goes on to say, “And when you have eaten and are full…be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God.” God doesn’t have a problem with you being blessed. He just never wants you to forget about Him.

This whole chapter reminds the people of Israel of how the Lord provided for them in the past. Verse 3 says that God humbled the people and fed them with manna “to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” He warns the people that when their herds grow large and they build fine houses, their hearts could “become proud,” and they may say to themselves, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” The people are reminded, “But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth…” 

God wants you to live in abundance, but He cares more about your relationship with Him than anything else. He was warning His people that once they became blessed, they needed to know how to handle that blessing with a right heart. There is a tendency for people to forget God the wealthier they get. In Matthew 19, Jesus met a rich young man. The young man wanted to know how to get eternal life. He told Jesus about all the commandments that he had been obeying, but Jesus looked at his heart. Jesus told him that there was one thing that He lacked. This was a test to see where the young man’s heart really lay. So Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give them to the poor and then follow Him. The young man went away sad because that was something he was not willing to do because he had great wealth. 

God wants to prosper you in ways you cannot even imagine, but He wants you to be able to handle the blessings in a way that honors Him. He loves you too much to give you more than you can handle. So, in life, God will test you to make sure you are grounded on the understanding that everything you have comes from Him. Everything you own are gifts of love from your father. No matter how prosperous you become in life, never forget about your first love.

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