Deuteronomy 6: 3-12
Listen and be careful to do ... that it may go well with you ... and mutiply greatly, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
God wants us to listen to what He actually says, not our own ideas or what we want Him to say. And to be careful to do all that He commands. This is for our own good! When God can give us all the good things in life, it's a testimony to the other peoples of how good our God is and they will be drawn to Him.
Verses 10-12 tell us all the good things God is giving them to enjoy: Cities, houses full of good things, cisterns of good water, vineyards, olive groves, plenty to eat, drink, and enjoy.
Then Verse 12 says, Then watch yourself lest you forget the Lord....
When everything is going great, don't forget that it is the Lord God's blessings that have prospered us, we didn't do it ourselves! This is when we are vulnerable and really need to be careful.
The whole book of Judges tells us how Israel worshipped God and He blessed them. Then when things got going well for them, they got arrogant, and thought they'd gotten it all themselves, and started to honor the local gods. So God had their enemies gain control over them. So they cried out to God, and He raised up a judge, a military leader, to throw off the tyranny, and they worshipped God again.
This cycle repeated over and over. This is what happens when we're not careful. Our own flesh draws us away from the Lord and His ways. So we need to make the constant effort to remember God's ways, because we will never "slide" into righteousness; when we're on automatic we will slide into sin. It takes effort to stay on the righteous path. That's why God says over and over to "Be careful" to actually do what we know is right. Think about every choice, deliberate over every decision; consult with our Father on every thought, word, and action.
God has given us His own Holy Spirit to live inside each of us who are His, so we have no excuse. I have to train myself to constantly be aware of His presence, and commune with Him continually; like Brother Andrew learned to "practice the presence of God" in everything he did.
God made this Earth for us, and designed how the World would work, and it was all based on Love. God is Love. Everything He does comes from His Love. So when we tune our thinking processes to align with how He made everything, and think His thoughts instead of our own, then He will direct our ways to be prosperous, as He designed this World. He put an abundance of everything we need right here, and when we realize that, then we won't find a need to be greedy or to hoard; we are free to love one another and be generous with what we have, knowing there is always more out there.
It is our enemy who wants to destroy us that tells us there isn't enough.
God's plans for us according to His ways are for us to think His positive thoughts, say His encouraging words, and do His good works to benefit one another, always recognizing that He is the One Who did it all. And we get the benefits and He receives all the glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
