Remembering To Thank The Giver
Minister: | Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: | 11/28/2013 AM (Thanksgiving Day) |
Text: | Deuteronomy 8:17,18 |
Psalters: | 404, 82, 169, 400 |
- The Abundance.
- After the deprivations of Egypt and the wilderness Israel would experience a tremendous contrast in Canaan.
- While they never lacked, they did live day to day without any surplus.
- Canaan did flow with milk and honey: plenty of water, fertile soil, already mature vineyards and orchards.
- Moses is alerting them so they can prepare themselves to handle this sharp and quick contrast.
- Canaan’s prosperity is an Old Dispensational type of God’s rich blessings to His people in the covenant.
- Today the church in western civilization enjoys much materially.
- In the New Dispensation earthly things no longer are types of God’s blessing (as in the Old).
- However, like Israel, we must learn how to use properly the plenty (as well as the little).
- After the deprivations of Egypt and the wilderness Israel would experience a tremendous contrast in Canaan.
- There is a very real danger in both dispensations which comes with prosperity: heart lifted up and forget God.
- Everything comes with spiritual dangers.
- Thankfulness is not natural to man; by nature we are unthankful to any outside of ourselves.
- It is a spiritual gift of the Holy Spirit to be thankful.
- In prosperity our hearts are easily lifted up (14).
- Further, prosperity can slowly intoxicate, so we trust in riches rather than in the God who gave them (I Tim. 6:17).
- And we easily take credit for the prosperity, claiming that we got it by our might and by our efforts (17).
- Everything comes with spiritual dangers.
- Our calling arises from the covenant God established with us: render grateful returns of ardent love.
- First, we are to “remember,” i.e., not forget where we have come from (14-16).
- Remember where we came from (what we are by nature, James 1:23,24) and what we really deserve (hell).
- Especially remember His covenant relationship with us.
- We are to bless Jehovah our God (10), i.e., to speak beautiful words to and about the I Am.
- We bless Jehovah by sanctifying and enjoying all our material possessions.
- We bless Jehovah by asking Him to forgive our ingratitude.
- We bless Him by thanking Him, over and over acknowledging that He is the Giver of all that we are and all we have.
- First, we are to “remember,” i.e., not forget where we have come from (14-16).