Remembering the Lord in times of well-being

Deuteronomy 6:10-12

When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

One of the hardest challenges is to truly love the Lord when you are in prosperity. You have need of nothing. It is easy to forget. This is the warning Moses gives Israel as they are ready to enter the Promised Land.

We get so comfortable. We make God into our image all too often once we are “set.” It is often hard to serve the Lord in a place of abundance.

This is why I need the constant reminders and how I have found help in this with liturgy and the Daily Office. It is not that I just find myself in church every Sunday or “doing my devotions” on a daily basis.

It is that I am in a particular rhythm on a constant basis. The liturgy keeps me focused on the basics. There is confession. There is repentance. There is the Gospel. There is the Table. Week after week. Those rhythms keep me focused and reset my compass every week. I haven’t just gone to church to feel good about the singing or thankful I heard a good sermon.

The Daily Office keeps me in a rhythm as well. It is to be reminded of who I am and the God I serve.

Personally, I am on a rhythm again that takes me into particular deep dives in the Word. It challenges me. It refreshes me. That deep dive may be coming to an end, so it will then be my habit to once again pick up the Daily Office.

There is a saturation method to the rhythm of the Daily Office and the weekly Eucharist. Over time, the Spirit soaks in the Word, then the living Word. Our hearts are more tuned.

These are rhythms I need in a place where I have no particular need. We need these reminders in a place of abundance.