Know Where You Came From

Deuteronomy 8:11, 17-18 - “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statues, which I command you today…Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant with he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God. … Beware lest you say in your heart …”

… that it’s because of your hard work that you have blessings in your life. Imagine sitting down with your family to eat, and praying this prayer: “Lord, I worked hard for this meal. I provided for my family. Now we are going to eat the fruit of my labor.” No one would ever pray that, right? But if we could hear the sinful attitudes that our hearts often have, that’s exactly what our prayers would sound like.

I know for me, it’s so easy to look around at anything good in my life and think that it came to fruition because of my efforts and my diligence. Then, I can look at things that are not so good and think, “God, why haven’t you fixed those things yet?” How sinful and man-centered and blind that is.

But God is gracious to remind me often of HIS grace and mercy - that HE is the one who has caused everything that is good to be good. I am learning (slowly but surely) to see the evidences of grace in my life and in the lives of others and to be constantly reminded that nothing good has come from my hand. It is all God’s work, by God’s power, for God’s glory in Christ Jesus.