Bind Our Wandering Hearts
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 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 8:11-18
These are some of the words I read in my quiet time today.
Remember, the Lord commands Israel. Oh wandering Israel, quick to forget what the Lord has done! But, oh wandering church, quick to forget what the Lord has done! Be careful, lest in your financial success, your honor student son or daughter, your promotion at work, your "healthy" marriage - be careful not to forget the Lord your God!
It is easier to see our need for God when the world and our lives seem to be crumbling. But, when we are managing just fine, checking off the items on our to-do lists and our relationships with others seem to be going well - not so much. All too often we become independent of God. In my life, I call this going into "auto-drive" - when I go about my day relying on my strength, my skills, my time, my resources, ect. Emphasis on "my," aka ME, not God. Fortunately, this usually quickly comes to a screeching halt as something happens that God uses to humble me and remind me how desperately I need Him. The truth is, the idea of "doing just fine without God," is an illusion. It's not if you will find yourself insufficient, it's when.
The songwriter of "Come Thou Fount" penned these words:
"O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be
Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above"
Brothers and sisters, let this be our prayer. Bind our wandering hearts, oh Lord! We were not created to live apart from God. We were created to have a relationship WITH GOD. Together, let us remind one another of our Great God and look to Him in all things.