Thanksgiving is less than a week away. I have many reasons to be thankful this year. One of the things I am most thankful for is that I am able to celebrate this holiday with my family. There is so much that needs to be done in order to prepare for the day. However, in the middle of celebrating and spending time with people I love very much, I want to step back and focus on Him. He is the reason we celebrate this holiday in the first place. He is why we have so much to be thankful for.
Last year I read from Deuteronomy 8 at Thanksgiving time. I mentioned then that I desired to do this every year around Thanksgiving. I have not forgotten. This morning I read through the chapter again. It is really quite an amazing chapter. You see, the Israelites had been traveling in the desert for 40 years at this point and were about to enter the promised land. Deut. 8:6-9 says,
Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
I kinda feel like I am in a good land right now. I have everything that I could possibly need. I have food to eat, water to drink, clothes to wear, a home to sleep in and loved ones close by. I am truly blessed. But verses 10 thru 14 are a warning. They say,
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.
We are warned that once we have eaten and are satisfied, we must praise Him and not forget what He has done. We are to continue to observe His commands. We are to praise Him so that our hearts will not become proud. We need to keep things in perspective and remember that everything we have has been given to us. I for one do not want to forget. I want to remember all the ways He has blessed me. I want to acknowledge that everything wonderful in my life has been given to me and not something I have acquired in my own strength.
He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. --Deuteronomy 8:15-18
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