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It is God who gives us the ability to make wealth

Rosemary Njoroge

In Deuteronomy 8, the Lord clearly warned the Israelites to “be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers.”

But earlier the Lord led His children in the desert for 40 years, causing them to hunger and then feeding them with manna. Why did He let His children wander in a hostile desert for 40 years? The answer is to teach them “that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Like the Israelites, if we observe the commands of the Lord, He will surely bring us into a “good land – a land with streams and pools of water . . . a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing” (Deuteronomy 8:7,9).

However, the Lord also reminds us that when that happens, when we have eaten and are satisfied, we must be very careful not to forget Him. When our silver and gold increases, that will be the time to watch out, for there is a danger then that our “hearts will become proud” (Deuteronomy 8:10-14). When things do go well, when we have good grades in school, a well-paying job, a thriving business, a successful family, a house that is already paid for or where the mortgage payments are no longer a problem, that’s the time to remember God. We must never deceive ourselves into thinking that “my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me”. Rather, we are told to “remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).

Rosemary Njoroge lives in Houston, Tex.

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Last modified May 26, 2000.

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