Deuteronomy 8:10

Deuteronomy 8:10 says, When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.  Moses said when the people of Israel ate and were full that they were to bless, or thank, the LORD.  No matter how rich or poor we may be as followers of Christ today, we should always give thanks to God, especially if we have enough to eat and a roof over our head.  Verse eleven adds, Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:  Moses warned them against forgetting God when they were full and life was going well.  Too often today, people look to God in times of need, but forget Him in times of blessings.  Verse twelve states, Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;  Verse thirteen adds, And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;  Verses fourteen continues, Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;  This was a continuation of Moses warning the people of Israel to not forget God when He blessed them greatly with not only enough food and nice houses, but with herds and silver and gold as well, and their beginning to think that they were responsible for all the good things they had and forgetting God.  It seems today that as Christians sometimes the more God blesses us the more we take credit for it and the less the give God the credit and praise.  Verse fifteen says, Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;  Moses begins to remind the people of all thet God had done for them.  God led them through the terrible wilderness full of dangers, and even provided them water from out of a rock when there was no water.  Today, in our spiritual wilderness, God gives us Living Water if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse sixteen adds, Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;  Moses said that God also provided them with manna, bread from heaven, to eat to humble them because they had nothing to do with providing it for themselves.  We need to humbly thank God for the Bread of Life and all other riches that He brings us today.   Verse seventeen continues, And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. Moses continued to warn the people of Israel against beginning to think that they and not God were responsible for all the good things they had.  We as followers of Christ need to heed that same warning today.  Verse eighteen declares, But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.  Moses told them to remember that it was God Who blessed them with all these riches, and we need to remember that it is God Who provides us with all that we have today, whether we are rich or not.  Sometimes it seems that the less with have the easier it is to give God the glory and praise, and the more we have the easier it is to think that we are responsible and to forget God.  This should never happen though.  As Christians, we need to give God the glory for all that we have and use it for His glory.  Verse nineteen adds, And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.  Moses warned them that if they became rich in material things and forgot that God was the source of their blessings and began to worship false gods that they would perish.  We cannot serve God and material things or false idols at the same time.  Verse twenty continues,  As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.  This was a warning to the nation of Israel that if they forgot God that they would be destroyed like the nations that God had destroyed before them because of their disobedience.  We may call ourselves a Christian nation, but if we forget God and His laws, we eventually will be destroyed just like any other nation.  We are not blessed by the fact of who we are as a nation, but are a nation because of Who God is if we are indeed a Christian nation.  We should never believe that God blesses us because of where we were born.