November 25: THE ADVANTAGES WE ENJOY

As God is speaking in Deuteronomy 8:10ff (NIV), he is saying some very relevant words to all who live in an affluent metropolitan suburb: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws, and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
Because the economic opportunities always are better around a “metropolitan sprawl” people naturally migrate here. Many are on a career “fast track” headed for the top. Many have “paid their dues” out in the boondocks and have finally gotten the promotion that puts them in a position to make some “real money”. Some were transferred here by military assignment and have found employment opportunities that they could never find “back down on the farm”.
Not unlike the people God was speaking to in Deuteronomy 8 are folks in this commuter community. Success and its benefits do come to those who pursue it! Some who taste success begin to look around and compare themselves to the less successful and imagine they must have accomplished all this without God and begin to “forget God”. Some folks moved here and left God back home where all the other comfortable memories reside.
As we evaluate the past months of summer and fall, was God given prominence in your life and actions? Did you suffer from “Godward amnesia”? Just wondering!
We work hard, right? We deserve good things, right? We don’t have to feel guilty about it, right? You can feel good about all that has happened to you, if you did not forget God.
By the way, what does your checkbook say about your year? You might want to reread this column: Now!

“So many advantages are ours in this wonderful land of freedom! Deep down,
O God, we know it all comes from You. Strip away our ego! Amen”