“So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.” Deuteronomy 6:10-15
It is easy to pray and remember God when you need help and lack the basics things to survive and nothing else can help. But one could say the true test of your relationship with God is what you do when you have everything. When things are going well it doesn’t take much to forget that you are not actually the one providing for yourself now matter how hard you work. “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.” Deuteronomy 8:18. We are not able to do anything of our own strength. The ability to live, think, and move all come from God.
We need to recognize that no matter how much or little we have that God is the one who provides and we can trust him to take care of us. Since the abilities you have today are from God you can believe whatever you will need in the future will come from God as well. So beware that you don’t forgot your God and think you can do everything by yourself. Don’t make gods out of your possessions and abilities and forget God gave you life so you could have those things. You cannot have any blessing apart from God. If you don’t honor God with your possessions now God may allow you to lose them so you can remember that God is the only one that you can depend on for your own good.
So we need to take time to remember that God is our provider and keeping the Sabbath is a good reminder that God is the creator of everything and we wouldn’t be here without him. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:11. We can rest trusting that God will provide whatever we need. But we shouldn’t try to wait until the Sabbath to acknowledge it. If we are depending on our own works to provide for ourselves throughout the week rather trusting God, instead of seeing the Sabbath as a great time to rest in God’s goodness and grow in our relationship with him the hours maybe wasted worrying about all the things we need to accomplish the next week. Trust in God everyday and don’t take your blessings for granted. Take time to thank God for what you have and trust him for what you will need.
Picture originally found here
