The fat, forgetful ones

"I’m starving,” I announced to my wife when dinnertime rolled around.  It is almost profane that I should say that because I have no idea what starvation is.  My waistline gives mute testimony to the abundance of our table!  By contrast, my friend whose face has taken on new angles in recent weeks is starving, though voluntarily.  He is following one of those radical diets that produces amazing results. “Are you hungry?” I asked him.  With a wry smile, he admitted that sticking with the plan requires real determination. “A steak never sounded so good,” he said. I am so well-fed that I have become a fussy eater. He is so hungry that even the most basic food looks like a feast.

So, what’s your spiritual appetite like these days? Do you desire times of worship, love the Presence of God?

Moses called on the people of the Lord to consider their choices.  “Walk with the Lord in obedience,” he said, “and He will bless you. But, be aware of a potential problem that can grow out of those very same blessings.”   What? There is such a thing as too much?  In a sense, that is true. "He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape. Jeshurun (a name for Israel, the people of God) grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior."  (Deuteronomy 32:13-15, NIV)

God’s favor is a great gift.  His Word and wisdom will lead us to a place of prosperity and contentment.  The risk is that we will slip into self-satisfaction! Worship will hold little attraction for us. Prayer will become a form if we allow our hearts to cool towards Him.  Sated by empty things, we can lose our desire for the Bread of Heaven. We may become Jeshurun;  a fat, forgetful Christian.  An immature response to Moses’ caution is to fear our blessings or to impose some kind of misery on ourselves.  When God blesses, the right response is to receive those gifts with gratitude and to share them with others.  Instead of hoarding and growing fat, we give and allow God to replenish our store.  The discipline of generosity protects us from the curse of spiritual obesity.

Jesus told a story about blessings. It is often misunderstood as a condemnation of having good things. As you read His words, look deeper than that. “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21, NIV)  “I will build bigger barns… I’ll say to myself  you have plenty … I’ll take life easy.”  It was not this man’s blessings that earned him Jesus’ condemnation. It was his attitude of entitlement and selfishness!

Has your life in the Spirit led you to a place of blessings? Has God allowed you to have more than enough?  Wisely accept the wisdom that warns of becoming fat and forgetful, but do not fear.  Instead, with gratefulness that recognizes the source of those blessings, give yourself generously to God’s work.  You will then experience a life that is both rich and God-aware! 

Here’s a word from the Word. "God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out. This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God. " (2 Corinthians 9:8-11, The Message)