Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
Over the past few years I’ve both interacted with missionaries around the world and had the privilege of visiting a few foreign countries, and I’ve noticed a very interesting spiritual/practical reality. Anxiety, need and pain usually motivate spiritual hunger in people as they search for God’s answers and help. Wealth, affluence, comfort, bounty, normally reduce spiritual hunger, dull spiritual interests, and often breed spiritual apathy. Have you seen that where you live in the world, or even in your own life, or extended family?
Moses addressed that issue directly in the farewell message we began looking at yesterday. He records it for us in Deuteronomy 8 in the Bible. He’s warning the ‘next generation’ of Israelites as they prepare to leave the desert behind and cross into the land God long ago promised to their ancestors. None of them, except Joshua and Caleb, had ever seen this land, but God had described it as a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’, and the 12 scouts, who’d spent 40 days exploring this land, had returned with a glowing report of it’s beauty and bounty. You may recall they even returned with clusters of grapes so big it required two men to carry the fruit! (Numbers 13:21-33) As compared to the endless sands of the desert they’d traveled these past 40 years, I can only imagine the anticipation that has built up in these people as they prepare to move into the land of Canaan.
I can see Moses standing on a high rock pointing across the Jordan river to the Canaan on the other side, as he warns the people of what may happen if they are not careful, as they move from desert living reliance on God’s daily supply, to living in the bounty of this new land: “The LORD your God is bringing you into a good land – a land with streams and springs, a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing…” (Deut. 8:7-9) Can you imagine my friends how that sounded in the ears of people who had seen nothing but barren desert for 40 years? Look at them, jumping and dancing and laughing as they imagine what lies ahead for them. When is the last time you had such an experience of anticipating wonderful things ahead for you?
But look, Moses is calming down the spontaneous celebration, for he had an important warning for the people: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe His commands that I am giving you today. 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 and the land of slavery.” (Deut. 8:10-14) I can imagine all across this huge throng of humanity before him, Moses could see people shaking their heads vigorously. ‘No, that will never happen to us. We will always be a grateful people, we will never forget the desert. We will always seek to honor God with our lives and families…” We have no record of that response, but it’s what we all do when we are warned, isn’t it? Oh we are confident whatever we are being warned about will never happen to us, right?
Look closely at the formula Moses gave the people… in times of abundance and bounty and ease and comfort, BE CAREFUL! Be alert, be watchful of your heart, for abundance will throw cold water on the hot coals of your spiritual passion. Abundance will cause you to feel self sufficient, self confident, even self reliant! Those attitudes and emotions will draw you away from God, will cause you to feel you don’t need God, and that is a very dangerous place to be in life. It’s amazing how distorted our thinking can be when affluence or abundance clouds our vision. Moses warned the people their hearts would become proud and they would forget all God had done for them. Has that ever happened to you my friends? In your enjoyment of bounty, abundance have you felt pride welling up inside you? With poverty comes a feeling of insecurity and vulnerability. With abundance often comes a feeling of invincibility and self sufficiency. Do you see the danger my friends?
History shows us clearly… people cry out for God in desperate times, and yet push God away in times of abundance. Travel the world today and you will see the clear evidence: in places of persecution or financial poverty or great stresses of life, the church grows in size and strength. In places of abundance and freedom and affluence, churches shrink or grow apathetic spiritually. Look into your own extended family my friends, what do you see? This was a critical moment, a defining moment for the people who stood before Moses that day… and my friends, it may be that today is such a day for you and me as God calls us to be careful.
Now my friends, listen to what Moses said next…: “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” (Deut. 8:17) It’s time to be really honest… have you ever had those thoughts as you deposited your paycheck into the bank, or turned the key in the ignition of your car, or turned the lights on at night in your home? Right there is the root of this problem. As long as you and I think ‘it’s mine, I bought it with my own hard earned money…’ then we will be vulnerable to the pride that comes with self sufficiency rather than living God reliant.
Listen to what Moses said next: “But remember the LORD your God, for it is HE who gives you the ability to work and produce wealth…” (Deut. 8:18) There it is my friends, that’s the answer which will protect your heart and mind from self-sufficient pride. Whatever skill or energy or strength or intelligence or talent is needed for you to do whatever generates your financial income… GOD is the source of it all! Without God keeping our lungs breathing and our heart beating, and without God enabling our brain to think and coordinate the movements of our limbs, or enabling our tongue to speak… don’t you see you and I would be helpless and unable to do anything. In fact, we’d be dead!
God moved the Apostle Paul to write this great truth: “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it…People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many kinds of grief.” (1 Tim. 6:7-10)
Did you know Jesus spoke about the dangers of abundance and affluence and self reliance a great deal? Matthew one of Jesus’ disciples records a lengthy message Jesus spoke about this in Matt. 6:19-34, summarized in this one sentence: “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve both God and Money… for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:21,24) Now friends, I urge us to reflect for a moment… what have you learned in your life about the effect of financial abundance upon your spiritual hunger, your pursuit of God? Do you have wisdom to share that you’d like to pass on to your children and grandchildren, if they’d receive your counsel? And what danger do you see for them if they disregard the wisdom Moses, Paul, Jesus, and you might offer them about this important topic?
I’m so glad we live at a time in history there are a wide range of wonderful, Biblically based, wise seminars and books and other teaching resources on this topic. I’m including one link to Crown Ministries, which I believe you will find invites you to dig deeply into God’s wisdom regarding God honoring handling of any amount of finances, while facing the financial challenges of life, in view of what Moses warns us about in Deuteronomy 8. May I urge you friends, re-read Deuteronomy 8 asking God to show you how it applies to your life, your financial situation, and then take your journal and write down some wisdom God gives you about a financial philosophy which will help you stay humble before God, and make sure God has full authority to guide you in handling what little or abundance He may entrust to you. This is one of the hallmarks of Godliness my friends, and it’s so important that you and I develop it well and help our children and grandchildren develop it!
Today’s Scripture is Deuteronomy 8:10-18.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Email
WhatsApp