Until We Can Hold No More

I’ve been going back through the Old Testament this Fall and was struck by this passage . . .

“When the Lord your God has brought you into the land he promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and when he has given you great cities full of good things—cities you didn’t build, wells you didn’t dig, and vineyards and olive trees you didn’t plant—and when you have eaten until you can hold no more, then beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the land of slavery. When you are full, don’t forget to be reverent to him and to serve him and to use his name alone to endorse your promises. —Deuteronomy 6:10-13 TLB

I live in a great city full of good things, but I had nothing to do with building any of it or placing the good things that I enjoy in it.

I drink clean water and shower daily, but did not dig the well for my water.

I eat plenty of food every day that I did not plant and did not raise.

Most all my meals, I eat until I am full. It’s not that I run out of food, but I run out of stomach.

It is quite easy to forget that the city, water, and food I enjoy, including the money I have to buy it, all come from the hand of God.

Isn’t it interesting and ironic that when we go without, or feel threatened that we might, we rush to God for help, yet as He warned us, when we have plenty and are full, we don’t rush to thank Him that it is here?

Years ago when I was involved with a ministry in Haiti, I will never forget a pastor there telling me a Haitian proverb: “A rich man is one who goes to sleep today knowing he has food for tomorrow.”

Regardless of the nation you live in, if you’re reading this on an electronic device, you likely fall into this category.

Today, may we all thank God for the cities we did not build, the wells we did not dig, and the food we did not grow, but when we have eaten today until we can hold no more, may we be extravagantly grateful to the God Who made it and gave it. May we be thankful that because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are no longer slaves to sin and death. May we serve God and worship His name only.