Give me a steak seared perfectly on both sides, a baked potato beside it, and a slice of cheesecake to finish. I’m a meat-and-potatoes man. At the end of a meal like that, you push back from the table, take a slow breath, and feel completely satisfied.
Moses had that moment in mind when he stood at the edge of the Promised Land. Israel was about to cross the Jordan, and he warned them about the danger waiting on the other side.
It wasn’t the walled cities or the armies. It was the moment after dinner.
“When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God…”
Deuteronomy 8:10–11
The Full Table Is the Dangerous Place
Most of us know how to call on God when life falls apart. The diagnosis comes, the money runs out, or the marriage starts hurting, and we pray. Pain reminds us that we need someone greater than ourselves.
Now flip the coin. The bills are paid. There’s money in the bank. Things are peaceful at home, and life is humming along. I believe that is the more dangerous place for a believer to be.
Israel had spent forty years in the wilderness. They had gathered manna morning after morning. They had known thirst, scorpions, and fiery serpents. Now they were about to enter a land of goodly houses and growing herds. God was keeping His promise, and Moses knew that blessing would bring its own test.
There’s nothing wrong with a full table or a good life. Both are gifts. But a season of plenty can be as much a trial as a season of tribulation. The hard season asks whether you will trust God. The good season asks whether you will remember Him.
“My Power and the Might of Mine Hand”
Forgetting God is never neutral. When He fades from memory, something else takes His place, and that something is usually us.
“And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.”
Deuteronomy 8:17
Few of us would say those words out loud. We simply work hard, see the results, and quietly begin to believe we did it ourselves. That is how a heart gets lifted up.
Nebuchadnezzar said it plainly. He looked across Babylon and spoke of what he had built by the might of his power. While the words were still in his mouth, God humbled him. The great king lost his reason and lived like an animal until his understanding returned. His first response shows what he had learned: “I blessed the most High.” He later testified of God:
“…and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.”
Daniel 4:37
This danger reaches beyond money. It can follow us into our spiritual lives. Look how I served this week. Look how I encouraged that family. How quickly we can claim credit for what God is doing through us.
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:13
Anything right, righteous, or holy in my life is the work of His grace. That’s why pride is such an enemy of gratitude. A proud heart cannot give thanks for what it believes it earned.
Complaining Is a Memory Problem
Pride isn’t the only thing that grows when we forget. So does complaining.
I understand that life is hard. I have my own complaints, and I try to take them to the Lord instead of everyone around me. A believer who brings real sorrow to God is not sinning. Scripture gives us words for that kind of honest prayer.
But I’ve noticed something as a pastor. Believers who have walked with Christ for years can still settle into a habit of complaining. Every conversation becomes a list of what went wrong this week.
Where does that come from? Often, it comes from forgetting.
If you’ve walked with the Lord for any length of time, you’ve been through your own wilderness. You’ve seen Him provide when the cupboard was bare. You’ve seen Him carry you through what you thought would break you. You have a history with God. When we lose sight of that history, every new problem feels like the first one.
Romans 1:21 describes people apart from God as those who “glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.” That ingratitude isn’t foreign to us. Our flesh still leans that way, so gratitude has to be practiced. As we count what God has done, complaints begin to lose their grip, and the heart learns humility again.
Somewhere in Your Life There Is an Egypt
The cure for a forgetful heart is to go back to the beginning. God kept pointing Israel to Egypt for that reason. He wanted them to remember who heard their cry and who brought them out.
“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…”
Deuteronomy 8:14
Our story is no different. We were in bondage to sin, unable to free ourselves and living under condemnation. Then the God who loves us came down. Jesus Christ walked among us, went to the cross, sacrificed Himself for us, and rose again the third day. Now He offers freedom to everyone who will believe.
Our nation has been celebrating 250 years of liberty, and that is a gift worth celebrating. But there is a greater freedom. It is the liberty that sets the soul free.
If you’re new to the faith, hold on to that memory while it’s fresh. You know exactly what He brought you out of. If you’ve been saved for many years, go back and look again. Somewhere in your life there is an Egypt God brought you out of. There’s a wilderness He walked you through. There’s a rock He brought water from when you had nothing left.
And if you have never trusted Christ, hear me on this: you cannot work your way out of bondage. Israel couldn’t free itself, and neither can we. Jesus has already done what you could never do. Believe in Him and receive Him. The relief, the freedom, and the load lifted from your back will change everything.
Before You Sit Down This Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is coming. In a 2015 LifeWay Research survey, more than half of Americans named being thankful to God as the holiday’s most important part. I’m grateful for that. But saying it and doing it are two different things.
Israel shows how quickly remembering can fade. They entered the land and received the milk, the honey, and the goodly houses. Then, within a generation, we read this:
“…and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.”
Judges 2:10
Forgetfulness rarely arrives as open rebellion. It comes quietly, at comfortable tables, one unthanked blessing at a time.
So don’t just agree with this and move on. Open your hands and remember on purpose:
- Start a blessing journal today. Get a notebook and write down what God has done. Name each blessing, one by one.
- Make it a weekly practice. Choose one time each week to add to it, and write it as a prayer to the Lord.
- Name your Egypt. Write down what He brought you through, then thank Him out loud for it.
- Tell someone at your table. This Thanksgiving, share one thing God has done for you.
The next time you sit down at a full table and push back satisfied, don’t forget. None of us got here on our own.
“But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth…”
Deuteronomy 8:18
When life is full, remember the One who provides.
Not every reader is at a full table right now. If this season feels more like the wilderness, you don’t have to walk it alone. Join Between Sundays for Bible teaching through the week, and receive the first chapter of Standing in the Dark free. Get your free chapter.
This is the first message in The Gratitude Gap. Next, we’ll meet ten men who received a miracle and discover why only one came back.