Contemplative Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 8:10-14 (New International Version)

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.

This passage is addressed to God’s people in the Old Testament as they are about to enter the Promised Land. As I was reading through the chapters of Deuteronomy, I knew what was coming. I knew that God’s people would stray eventually. They would go through cycles of obedience, prosperity, disobedience, ruin, and back through the cycle again.

I read through the passages waiting to read something about the coming cycles. Here it was in these verses of chapter 8.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

Of course they would praise God. He gave them a land that was already built. There were fields already cleared of stones and planted with vineyards. There were cities already built with houses ready for people to occupy. The land was good; God would provide good weather, and the harvests would be plentiful. How could anyone forget to thank God?

But then verse 14 tells us what would become of God’s people, what would become of me today.

your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God

The people would become so proud of themselves for the good they had accomplished all on their own. Bad pride would creep in. In their hearts, they would say, “Look at me; look what I have done. I don’t need any help from anyone or anything (like God).” They wouldn’t say that out loud lest others think they were conceited. They would just feel it in their hearts and maybe they would feel it just for a part of a second.

God, however, hears what we feel in our hearts. He knows.

I forget things for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons are:

1. fatigue
2. too many other things to remember
3. human failure (that’s the way I am)

I don’t often include pride as one of the reasons for a failing memory.

Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God…Otherwise…your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God

Forgetting God brings (bad) pride. Such pride brings more forgetfulness, which brings more pride, and on and on.

God, help me remember you and what you do for me each moment of my life.