Promised Land living was going to be wonderful, but the Israelites were still going to need God in that place. They wouldn’t have a need for daily food, but they would have battles to fight and would have temptations to flee from, temptations to look to the pagan gods of the nations around them. They were going to need to draw upon their wilderness training in order to avoid pitfalls in the Promised Land. I want to emphasize the word “careful” that is repeated twice in the chapter. We are told to be careful in two ways. Let’s look at verse 1 again.
Deuteronomy 8 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 the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.
There are good reasons to live a careful Christian life, good reasons to carefully and not casually follow God’s commands. Verse 1 says that those who are careful to follow God’s commands will live and be established. They will increase. They will possess the Promised Land. Just as God had a Promised Land for the people of Israel as they were liberated from slavery and were taught by God to walk with Him day by day in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, I believe God has a Promised Land existence for all His children. I don’t believe we have to wait to get to Heaven in order to take hold of the Promised Land life. We are set free from slavery to sin to be in a life-giving relationship with Jesus, whereby, we take hold of the promises of God and have dominion and are given spiritual, supernatural authority to conquer in this life.
Casual Christianity might take the approach that you can pick or choose which commands to obey and which ones to shelve. Casual Christianity might relegate God to a place of lesser importance than the place of preeminence He rightly deserves. Casual Christianity might suggest some sins are now ok because they are culturally acceptable. Casual Christianity could argue that it is a child’s responsibility to grow up and decide for themselves what is true and right about God, rather than a parent’s responsibility to teach and instill in them the truth. I have talked to many people over the years who have told me they want their children to explore many religious paths and come to their own conclusions about God. My friends, that is a dangerous recipe for disaster. There is only one God and one way to Heaven, and if you leave the pursuit of truth up to a child or adolescent without influencing their decision, without exposing them to the truth, without explaining how God wants to have a personal, daily relationship with them, while all the while they are being bombarded by evil, lies, immorality and deceit, what kind of a chance do you think they stand of coming to the right conclusion?
If you want to live and increase and possess the promised place God has called you to occupy, and if you want the same for your children and grandchildren, you need to not be casual but careful regarding the commands of God.
The second place we see the word “careful” in Deuteronomy 8 is in verse 11. Let’s start with verse 7:
7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
I’m sure as this was communicated to them, they had trouble even trying to picture life like that. I mean, they had been slaves in Egypt. Back when they were living that kind of life, I’m sure they thought, “Our children are doomed. They don’t stand a chance of escaping this kind of life either.” There was no hope for anything different. To picture going from that kind of bitter life to blessing beyond belief gave them an anticipation and hope like they had never known. This was going to also be a place of financial prosperity. As slaves in Egypt, they had nothing. As Children of God in the Promised Land, they would have it all!
They were warned, however, that having it all could actually cause the Israelites to fall.
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be CAREFUL that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
What a tragedy it would be, for them to be freed by God, led by God, established by God and blessed by God, only for them to then forget God. Forgetting God would mean that something else would take His place in their lives which would be a violation of His commandments.
Instead of careful Christianity, God says, in the Promised Land, a person might become complacent and just set God aside. Several times in chapter 8 they were told to “remember” all God had done. God will not afford a Promised Land life to those who forget about Him. He went on in verse 15 remind them of how it was God who enabled them to navigate their way through the wilderness, how it was God who kept them safe from venomous snakes and scorpions along the way, how it was God who provided water from a rock and manna to eat. You know that’s not an exhaustive list of the things God did for them as they journeyed. Even in just this chapter we read in verse 4 that their feet didn’t swell while they traveled those forty years, and their clothes didn’t wear out! That’s amazing!
Y’all, the only reason they made it to the Promised Land was because God led them, God provided for them, God sustained them, and God preserved them along the way. God was the only reason they made it out of slavery. God was the only reason they made it through the wilderness. God was the only reason they made it to the Promised Land.
So, He cautioned them of the temptation to get comfortable and forget about God. Being filled, being comfortable, can cause us to quit pursuing the very One who made it all possible.
God is the way to the Promised Land, and life focused on Him is the way to stay there!
It is easy to forget about God when life is going well. There is also the temptation to become conceited and take credit for the things God provides as if what we have or what we have accomplished is our own doing. Look at verse 17ff: 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. 19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.
God sounds pretty serious here. Losing sight of God and becoming prideful and self-reliant are pitfalls we have to guard against if we are going to stay in that Promised Land place. Add to that the need to obey all of the commands of God. Those are what make for the careful Christian life.
How carefully are you living today? How are you doing with following God’s commands? How are you doing with seeking, following and acknowledging Him in the moments of ease or prosperity? God wants us all to enjoy life in the Promised Land. We get there by following the commands of God. We stay there by continued obedience and by acknowledging and honoring Him. Live carefully, according to God’s commands, so that you can get to the Promised Land and stay there!