Deuteronomy 8 Dangers of Prosperity

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 8:10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 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. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 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. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 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 ancestors, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.​

Here's the commentary from theologyofwork.org.

When, after many years of sweat equity, a person sees a business, career, research project, child raising, or other work become a success, he or she will have a justifiable sense of pride. But we can allow joyful pride to slip into arrogance. Deuteronomy 8:17- 18 reminds us, Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.” As part of his covenant with his people, God gives us the ability to engage in economic production. We need to remember, however, that it is a gift of God. When we attribute our success entirely to our abilities and effort, we forget that God gave us those abilities as well as life itself. We are not self-created. The illusion of self-sufficiency makes us hard-hearted. As always, the proper worship and awareness of dependence on God provides the antidote (Deut. 8:18).​

Do you remember Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker? Hubby and I were just talking about this the other day. It's so very easy to let things get out of control. A little wealth can give a human a very big head.

I hear humans preaching about wealth all the time. I hear them saying that God wants everyone to be wealthy. I hear them saying that God wants everyone to live in fine houses and drive new cars and wear designer clothes and eat gourmet dinners cooked by the private chef and have someone come in and clean our houses for us so we don't have to lift a finger. When I hear those humans preaching wealth I turn the channel.... I'd rather watch Hogan's Heroes or Pettycoat Junction than hear those humans barking their lies.

God didn't create humans so that He could spend eternity giving them winning lottery numbers and fine china and new homes. God created humans because He wanted them to depend on Him and be thankful for Him and worship Him. I heard one of those humans say God wants to make us rich.

Matthew 19:24 "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

God understands. Not everyone can handle being popular, wealthy, or beautiful.

:coffee:
 
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