Is it true that the more the Lord is giving, the less is our thanksgiving? May it never be!
We’ve already noticed a major theme through this fifth book of Moses. Its very name, Deuteronomy, points to the idea that repeating something helps us remember. But there’s a special warning in chapter 6 we must pause to consider. Why? Because it’s a special temptation of those who live in the West in the 21st century. We may complain about the price of gasoline or our favorite product being missing from the grocery shelves, but we are the most blessed people in history. The average middle-class home has more servants than a 19th century maharaja—dish washers, clothes washers, coffee makers and toasters. Our modes of transportation could not have been imagined by someone like Solomon. Our countries throw enough food away to feed whole nations. Yet for all this, how much thankfulness rises up to God today from the hearts of people in this part of the world? Thus, Moses warns the people of his day (with an application to our generation as well), “When the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage” (Deut 6:10-12). This is a danger in every age, but especially in ours. The trend is that the more we get, the more we forget. Can we pause today to thank Him for a clean glass of water, available at arm’s length? It’s unheard of in most of the world. We have eaten and are full. May we also be full of praise to God today!