Over the past few years in planning worship services for Thanksgiving Services one passage in particular has become my main go to scripture to remind us of our need to have a mindset of thankfulness. Maybe you have heard me make these points in the past but I need to hear them again.
The principle is really paralleled in two places in Deuteronomy once in chapter 6 verse 10-15 as well as chapter 8 verses 6-10.
First there is this warning in chapter 6...
10 “So it shall be, 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, 11 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— 12 then beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Then this admonition in chapter 8…
10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.
I’m sure the children of Israel had the same tendency as I do to enjoy the things they’d been GIVEN and to forget from WHOM it came. Many times I have caught myself going through the motions of Thanksgiving before the meal. Going around and telling the things we are thankful for and getting the spiritual stuff out of the way so we can really dig in to the feast. Then forgetting the PROVIDER the rest of the day. This passage reminds me that the most important time to remember the PROVIDER and the provision He has made is AFTER we are full of that provision.
Unfortunately, we sometimes are the most thankful when we have the greatest need and the least thankful when we have plenty and this simply reflects our view of our need for God… “Lord, I hardly have anything you’re all I have, thank you for these little things so many take for granted!” versus “Wow, I’ve got all this stuff, yep, I guess I work pretty hard, turns out I don’t really need the Lord’s provision so much after all.” It comes down to a basic view of the physical vs the spiritual – let’s face it we tend to focus very little on our spiritual blessings in Christ than we do on our physical blessings in this world. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be thankful for the material things, however, our hearts cry should be saying, “All I REALLY have is YOU, Lord, YOU transcend all this stuff – you have given it and you may take it. Blessed be Your holy name!”
What we need is a consciousness of our complete and utter dependence on God at all times for all things and I believe that is what God through Moses is saying in this passage – Keep on remembering where all this comes from and keep on obeying what the PROVIDER has commanded.
That is what happens when we get full AND we remember to be thankful!
