Health & Wealth: The Test We Never Pass
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 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. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 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. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 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 forefathers, as it is today.
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.
— Deuteronomy 8:10-19
Of all the tests that God gave the Israelites, and of all our tests in life, the one we have the toughest time with here in w:st=”on”America is what is said in Deut 8:10-19. When you get there and you have all you want, you’ll forget me for sure, is what God is saying.
In the West we always assume that pain and suffering are the only tests. Our test is affluence! We live this wonderful lifestyle where we have so much food in the cupboard that we have to decide which style or flavor that we want tonight (Chinese, Italian, Mexican.) Not exactly a manna type situation is it? We have 2 cars in the garage, which if you have one you are richer than 80% of people in the world, with 2, richer than 99% of world. A lot of us not only have our own home but a vacation home, or at least we think we are entitled to a 2 wk luxury vacation home somewhere.
Tell me, that in our affluence, we don’t forget God. We don’t need Him for our daily sustenance – our power, and the strength of our hand produce it for us, says Deuteronomy.
It hit me as I was thinking about this, what does this say about the “Health and Wealth gospel” that so many churches are promoting. This can be one of the worst things that can happen to you and one of the hardest tests to pass. We are asking God for affluence and that is the very thing that leads to our downfall! The tests in the desert are easier than this because with nothing it is a lot easier to be dependent on God. I was just wondering if you had ever thought of your life style as a test, a test that is just as difficult, just as tough to overcome as some of the other things that we think of as God testing us. Food for thought and no pun intended.

About the author:
Bob is the creator of this site and a disciple of Ray Vander Laan. Along with his wife of 50 years, he teaches a Bible study at Christ’s Church in Roswell, NM. He is also an avid hunter and fisher.