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Remember
the Lord Your God
~ Eric Shaw
Why is thanksgiving
important? Because it sets a direction in our thinking. When
we have thanksgiving in our heart, we admit we are not self-sufficient
- our hearts are in a place of humility. Someone has done
something for us we could not have done for ourselves.
Deuteronomy 8:7-18 explains the danger in thinking we have
arrived where we are on our own. We forget God. “When
you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God
for the good land he has given you. Be careful 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,
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. 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. He gave
you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors
had never known, to humble and test you so 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 he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”
This is a danger for us living in the prosperous western
world.
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