Don't forget the Past

Deuteronomy 8:11-19 - Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth. But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.

There's a warning to Israel in this passage. Here it is... don't forget the wilderness! When there was no water, God provided. When they lacked in food, God provided. He fed them with manna "that He might humble [them] and that He might test [them], to do good for [them] in the end." What a benevolent God and what a forgetful people. Once in the land of plenty, they seemed to think that they had made it on their own power.

Sounds like our story doesn't it? We trust and depend on God when times are rough as we realize our insufficiency... and then when situations turn around, we pat ourselves on the back. Beware, don't forget the past. Don't forget that we were dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and if it was not for the grace of God through Christ Jesus our Lord, we'd still be on that one-way road to eternal separation from God. Watch out for pride and don't forget the Lord's providence in your life. You'd be nowhere without it.