August 22, 2019

Is Your Stuff Calling the Shots?

Deuteronomy 8

Sarah Bruner
Thursday's Devo

August 22, 2019

Thursday's Devo

August 22, 2019

Central Truth

Remember that everything we have is from God! Praising God and remembering His goodness and gifts will keep us from being controlled by our circumstances or our possessions.

Key Verse | Deuteronomy 8:18

"You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day."

Deuteronomy 8

Remember the LORD Your God

The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word 1 8:3 Hebrew by all that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

11 Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Footnotes

[1] 8:3 Hebrew by all

Dive Deeper | Deuteronomy 8

As I write, I sit in an empty apartment filled with boxes. We're moving into our first home! As wonderful as this blessing is, we have encountered a few pitfalls. We should have been prepared because God warned the Israelites in Deuteronomy about what happens when we gain more stuff.

In Deuteronomy 8, we find the Israelites about to enter the Promised Land. It is "a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey" (Deuteronomy 8:8). But there is a warning in Deuteronomy 8:11 for Israel not to forget the Lord once they have all of this wealth. The author wisely warns that the heart might say, "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth." (Deuteronomy 8:17)

I identify with this verse. This is what my heart said when my possessions grew. I held tight to my possessions. My things. My house.

We walked into the house one day and saw a huge bulge in a wall. As you homeowners out there know, bulges in walls aren't good things. We had a water leak. I kept thinking and saying, "This isn't fair," and "why did this happen to us?" Both thoughts indicate that I was not remembering God's faithfulness or the fact that He works for our good (Romans 8:28). This unfortunate situation revealed my deceitful heart (Jeremiah 17:9). It was fooling me into thinking that I had earned these possessions and deserved their perfection.

Deuteronomy 8:18 shares the antidote for this kind of heart: "You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day." Remember the Lord your God.

In remembering that the Lord is the One who gave us this house, I remember that He has a plan for it no matter what my thoughts are (Proverbs 16:9). The Lord is continuing to teach my heart this lesson, and I invite you to walk with me.

Discussion Questions

1. What possession in your life determines your happiness? A good check for this is to ask yourself, "What can't I live without?" Think about how you can view this possession in the light of God's goodness and promises.

2. Are you imposing your plans on your possessions, or are you offering your possessions up to the Lord's plans?

3. Ask your community group if there are any possessions that have too big of a hold on your life. Pray through the actions you should take in response to their insights.