by Rose Murdock

10. And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,

11. And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;

12. Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Deuteronomy 6:10-12

The Lord was preparing the Israelites for entrance into the Promised Land.  He was telling them when they come into the Land and enjoy all of the blessings of the land not to forget the Lord who brought them from bondage into liberty and abundance.

God’s people were about to reap a harvest that they had not sown.  They were about to enjoy the benefits of other people’s labor.  But it came with a warning—not to forget the Lord once they had eaten and were full.

There are times when the Lord brings us miraculous blessings or miraculous deliverance.  These are times when we are reaping a harvest we haven’t sown or don’t deserve.  These are the blessings we inherit as a part of our covenant with God through Jesus Christ.  We haven’t done anything to earn it, but because we are in covenant with God we inherit these blessings.  He gives a warning here that when we are enjoying His blessings and His goodness then we need to be careful not to forget the Lord and where He brought us from.
 

While the Israelites were wandering in the desert for 40 years God miraculously provided for them by sending manna.  Manna was a food that God sent and the people didn’t have to plant anything to get it.  God sent this manna and the only thing they had to do was to collect it.  This was not God’s best.  It was not the Promised Land.  But it was miraculous provision.  During this time of manna the people’s total dependence on the Lord was obvious.  There was not anything they did to grow manna.  It came directly from God.  Their need was blatantly obvious to them and as a result their total dependence on God was obvious.

3. And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that He might make you recognize and personally know that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:3 Amplified Bible.

It was important they had engrained in their thinking that the Word of God was their source.  They needed to remember that their very lives were dependent on God.  Because once they entered into the Promised Land all of the Lord’s blessings could be a distraction to them seeing God as their source.  When we are in need, our need for the Lord is obvious but when He blesses us so abundantly do we remember that we still need Him?  And do we know how to maintain the blessing that He’s given to us?

The Israelites could have entered into the Promised Land 40 years earlier if they would have believed God who said the land was theirs.  All they had to do was go forward and possess it.  But they were afraid and instead ended up dying in the wilderness.   Their children, however, were able to go in and possess the land but the Lord reminded them not to forget where they came from once they were there enjoying the blessings.

How often do we cry out to God for deliverance and say things like, "God if You get me out of this one I promise I will do this and that and such and such for You."  We make all kinds of promises and vows when we’re in the middle of a mess.  Our need for the Lord is so obvious.  But then once God delivers us we become prideful and forget that God did all this for us and we begin to think we got it all ourselves.  God was warning them once they were in the land of plenty not to think that they had provided all the blessings for themselves.

11. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day.

12. Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;…

  17.  …And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.  Deuteronomy 8:11-12, 17

The danger of reaping where we haven’t sown is if we forget that the Lord provided this harvest for us as a part of our covenant with Him and not because we earned it on our own merit.  And the other danger is if we think that we can do whatever we want, live recklessly and God will just always bail us out.  How many times has God miraculously delivered us from a situation and we end up in the same situation again?  We need to learn to maintain the blessings He gives us.  Sometimes when we get something ‘for free’ we don’t appreciate the value of it.  We may not think there’s any work involved to keeping it or maintaining it.  But there is.  Does God enjoy providing us with miraculous deliverance and ‘free’ blessings?  Of course!  But He wants us to learn to walk according to His Kingdom principles and not to become dependent on miracles for everyday living.  He doesn’t want us to think that we can sit back and have everything fall into our lap without us getting out there and working the land. That’s like Manna.  He wants us to get past that and into the Promised Land where we are able to apply the principals of sowing and reaping and not live from crisis to crisis!  He wants us to seek Him and learn to operate in His ways on a daily basis.

The Israelites had to learn to maintain the land once they were there.  They weren’t receiving manna anymore.  They had to start to learn how to plant crops and reap a harvest.  There’s a Land of plenty available to us through the covenant we have with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  He has provided things for us in this covenant that we haven’t worked for, earned in any way, or deserve.  It’s strictly because of our covenant with Him through Jesus.  But you know, once we are in this Land of plenty we need to maintain it.  We need to begin to learn how to sow and reap.

What God desires is for us to apply the principals of His Word to our lives.  That we put our hand to the plow so to speak and do what He says do.  He wants us to catch the vision of the Land and not just wait for Him to spring up things here or there, but for us to see the vision and then go do it!  He wants us to see the potential in the Land we are in and then bring it pass.  How?  By using the principals of faith and trust in Him that we have learned.  By not being fearful of going further or being too comfortable where we are.  We know how powerful He is.  We know what God can do if we will just trust in Him, then let’s use our faith to build in this land that He has brought us to!  If we stay where we are and neglect the Land then eventually it will be overgrown with weeds.

30. I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

31. And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles and covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.

32. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.

33. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

34. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man. Proverbs 24:30-34

We reap what we sow.  And if we don’t sow, we reap the results of that too.

7. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7

Is God able and willing to instantly deliver us out of all of our troubles?  Yes!  But what did Jesus say about the widow who kept pestering the unjust judge until she got what she wanted?

"I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)

God wants us to learn to live by faith.  Faith, not just for miraculous deliverance’s, but faith to keep us out of those crisis’s which require miraculous deliverance’s.

Is God about to do a miracle in your life?  Is He about to deliver you from situations you need delivering from?  If so, then He wants you to understand this principal of maintaining your blessing.  He wants you to get ready to work the Land and begin to sow and reap so you won’t end up in the same mess again.  A miracle is reaping where you haven’t sown.  God’s favor is reaping where you haven’t sown.  And thank God for His covenant which provides that for us.  But God’s best is grabbing hold of the vision, seeing the potential in the Land and by faith in the Word of God going out there and building what needs building!  Allow the Lord to open your eyes to the vision of the Land and ask Him to show you how to maintain this blessing.  He’ll do it for you!

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