May I not forget the “Source”!

Tuesday 3-8-16 (La Lucila, Buenos Aires)     

Scripture reading for today:  Deut 7 - 9   Mark 15

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Excerpts from Deut 8:11-17 "Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God...  when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them... and your silver and your gold are multiplied... when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage... who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna... then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' NKJV

Excerps: “Do not forget the Lord, Your God... when your finish an abundant meal as you sit in your new luxurious home counting your secure retirement investments... and you forget that it was the Lord that carried you through the hard years and you look at your achievements and say in your heart, “Look at this mansion that I designed and built!  By my intelligence and the sweat of my brow I have accumulated all this!”  NUHV*

O.  The Lord was warning His people of the danger of forgetting the “Source” of their blessings.

A.  I was raised in a Christian home.  I was taught Christian principles from childhood and filled with great instruction in Sunday School, church and good schools.  Then I stepped out into life and so easily could have forgotten the Source of all my many blessings.  Here I was with good health; making good decisions; rising to work with strong determination to plunge ahead and succeed at my tasks.  It would be so easy to think that I, myself, am the source of this good life.  The truth is everything good thing I have has come from my Heavenly Father. 

P.  Lord Jesus, You taught about a young man that forgot the “Source” of his blessing and wasted it all on short-term pleasures.  We can easily congratulate ourselves for being wiser than he, and forget that even our wisdom has been learned at Your feet.  Yes, Lord, I am blessed beyond measure and I recognize that ever part of that blessing has its roots in my “Source”, my Heavenly Father.  Amen.

Ralph

*New Unauthorized Hiatt Version