PERPETUAL VIGILANCE REQUIRED
Deuteronomy 8:11-14 NLT
But this is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations and laws. For when you become prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied {your 401k and property values have increased} along with everything else, that is the time to be careful. Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of slavery.
In the history of the world, there has never been a nation as prosperous as America. We enjoy a standard of living that is the envy of the world. Yes, I realize we’re living through a horrible time of inflation, of oppressive taxation, and government policies run amok. Even so, without a doubt, we each enjoy on a daily basis what the majority of the world’s population does not. But we are a nation, a people that has forgotten God. In our pride and arrogance, we have rejected God and His commands. We think we achieved all of this ourselves. We live the most indulgent lives in the history of the world. Even our “poor” suffer from a staggering amount of obesity. We are the most consumer-driven, materialistic culture in history. Americans worship nice stuff. The houses we live in are incredible by most of the world’s standards, full of amazing amenities. The garages we keep our cars in are nicer than the homes billions of people around the world inhabit. If you don’t understand this, you’re unaware and uninformed of the majority of the rest of the world’s living conditions.
The tragic reality is many Christians have also forgotten God. We like to point the finger at our fellow Americans, but we who’ve been rescued from the cruelest Pharaoh of all, we who should be the most aware of all God’s incredible blessings to us personally, are so often dull in our senses, lukewarm in our faith, disobedient to God’s word and caught up in our possessions.
If we’re not extremely careful and perpetually vigilant in our faith, we’ll be destroyed by the soul-crushing apathy and pride that prosperity engenders! You’ll forget about God. You’ll grow distant in your heart towards God. You may attend church every Sunday, going through the motions of duty and religiosity, but that doesn’t mean you’re earnestly, humbly, walking close to the Lord, in deep appreciation and awareness of all He has given to you, striving to live in obedience to His word.
God has been so good to us. The other day, I was commenting to my wife, since we moved to this home 24 years ago, they built a Trader Joes, 1 mile from our home. They built an Aldi, 3 miles from our home. They built a Costco, 5 miles from our home. We have a WalMart, 3 miles from our home. We have the best gas prices, 3 miles from our home. We have everything we need within minutes of our house!
We have a stunning, beautiful park called Thomas Lake, with beautiful trails to walk around, 3 miles from our home. I could go on and on, so many things God has done for us, provided for us, given to us, and blessed us with. I am in awe, I really am.
I’ll tell you this my friends. If we’re not each, extremely careful, and remain perpetually vigilant in our faith, keeping our eyes on the Lord at all times and our heart fully His, we’ll fall prey to the same seducing spirit of the culture that has infected the rest of America.
Don’t let yourself grow soft, weak, lazy and lethargic. Don’t take all God has done for you, for us, for granted. Let us each stay perpetually vigilant in our faith, humbly walking closely with the Lord.
Please read Psalm 78:1-22 NLT. You and your children’s lives and future depend on what is written there.
Helping you become a Strong Disciple,
Because of Jesus,
Pastor Mark Darling
