I had a really cool retirement party a month ago. People wrote letters, sent videos, dug up pictures of baptisms and weddings I’d been part of. It felt like being at your own memorial service, where people only say the best things about you. I think we all need that once — to be blessed before we’re gone.

But there’s a danger here.

You can start to believe these are your accomplishments instead of gifts from God. You forget that people are saying nice things and leaving out the bad — and that only the people who like you showed up. I’m retired now, and life is easier in some ways.

That’s dangerous.

That’s the state of Israel in Deuteronomy 8. They’re about to enter the Promised Land, and life is about to get easy. No more slavery. No more wandering in the desert. That seems to make God uneasy.

He says:

Deuteronomy 8:11 (CSB)11 “Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today.

Somehow that’s easier to do when things are going well. He goes on:

14 be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 15 He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint rock for you. 16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your ancestors had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end he might cause you to prosper. 17 You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ 18 but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm his covenant he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

Notice who did the work:

God led them — v.15God gave them water — v.15God gave them food — v.16God gave them the power to succeed — v.18

I’ve got an old saying: Success = knowing God’s will and doing it.

Forget His word, and you’ll fail to do it. Fail to do it, and you can’t succeed at what He’s actually called you to do.

It really is that simple. Don’t forget who got you here.

Be encouraged,

Dan

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