"Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day."
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 ESV
Growing up, especially in the United States, we’re raised with a “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” mentality. We believe that, if we’re to succeed, we must simply work hard. And if we haven’t obtained all that we want in life, we simply need to work harder.
Consequently, we have a tendency to take credit for all that we have. We have a tendency to take credit for all that we’ve done. And we have a tendency to take credit for our successes.
We fail to realize, however, that this tendency results from our sinful nature. It results from our sinful nature that wants to keep the focus on ourselves rather than the Lord. It results from our sinful nature that wants not to receive, but to achieve and attain.
It was against this mentality that Moses warned the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 8 as they prepared to enter into the land of promise. As we see in the verses above, he warned them against saying in their heart that their power and that the might of their hand had gotten them the wealth they possessed.
He told them, instead, to remember the Lord their God. They were to remember the Lord who gave them the power to get wealth. They were to remember the Lord who had blessed them in accordance with the covenant he’d made with their fathers.
We are called, in Scripture, to work. And hard work is certainly a virtue. Likewise, laziness or sloth are condemned in Scripture.
The strength to do so, however, is a gift of God in itself. Apart from the life given to us by God, we could not work. Apart from the strength given to us by God, we could not work. And apart from the gifts and abilities given to us by God, we could not work.
It’s clear, in this way, that there is nothing we have attained in ourselves. Every blessing, from the greatest to the least, is a gift from the hand of God. It is a grace he has bestowed due to the great love he has for us.
While this is true of believers, it is true of unbelievers as well. As Jesus tells us in Matthew 5, the Lord makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good. And he sends rain on the just and the unjust.
So, rather than taking pride in our accomplishments, let us praise God. Rather than taking credit for our wealth and possessions, let us praise God. And rather than claiming our successes as our own, let us praise the Lord.
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