Rosy Retrospection

Deuteronomy 8:1-10

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There’s a psychological phenomenon that I think that we’re all a little bit susceptible to. It’s called rosy retrospection. It’s this idea that when you look at the past and what happened to you before, that you remember the good things about what happened. But you kind of forget about the hard things, the difficulties.

And one example of this is when I was in college each year I would take a trip to the Boundary Waters, northern Minnesota, just south of the Canadian border in the month of February. We’d get out of the van and the temperature would be about 40 degrees below zero. And I’d instantly think, Why did I do this? But the next year, when it came time to sign up again, I would look back and I remember how beautiful it was to be snowshoeing through the wilderness. I would remember the fun times in the lodge with the people I went with. I do remember the laughs and I would sign up again. And given the choice, I’d probably do it again still today.

Now, in God’s Word, the Israelites were susceptible to this as well. They said, Remember the good old days when we were slaves in Egypt? I wish we could go back to that. They’ve forgotten about all of the terrible things that happened to them there. So now it’s 40 years later and they’re about to enter the Promised Land. And their leader, Moses, knows these people. He knows their spiritual weakness. And so here in Deuteronomy chapter eight, he gives them this warning and this encouragement.

Be conscientious about carrying out the entire body of commands that I am giving you today so that you may thrive and increase and you may go in and possess the land that the Lord promised by oath to give to your fathers. Remember the whole journey on which the Lord your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you and to test you, in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. So he humbled you and allowed you to be hungry. Then he fed you manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known before, in order to teach you that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. The clothes you wore did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these forty years. So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. Therefore you are to keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by revering him.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of gullies filled with water, a land with springs and groundwater that flows out into the valleys and down the mountains, a land with wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees for oil, and honey, a land where you can eat bread and not be poor, where you will not lack anything, a land whose rocks are iron and from whose mountains you can mine copper.

Then you will eat, and you will be filled, and you will praise the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.

This Thanksgiving season, remember. Remember how blessed you are to live the life that you have. Remember that as you look back at the good old days, the simplicity sounds so good and so wonderful compared to what we live in right now because of rosy retrospection. But remember that the complaints about the past have led to the conveniences that we enjoy today. That you can have anything that you need in your life delivered to your house and in a matter of two days. Remember the luxury and the surplus of our culture and our world. And remember that we have done nothing to earn that. We’ve done nothing to deserve it.

Remember that every good thing in our life is God’s gift to us. That He is the one who is responsible. As you enjoy your Thanksgiving meal, remember that it is God who made the rainfall, who made the sunshine so that grain can grow. That grain that feeds the turkeys and us. Remember that it is God who made sure that there were farmers there who could harvest that grain. Who could raise those turkeys. That there were people there to butcher those turkeys and truckers who would transport all of these goods to the grocery stores. Remember that he’s the one who provides the people to work in those stores to stock those shelves. That he’s the one who has given you a means of an income so that you can go to the store and buy your feast, your bounty, for this year. Remember that all of this is the work of God. It is his blessing, his providence that makes this possible.

And even more than the physical blessings we enjoy in this life, remember the spiritual blessings, the spiritual gifts from our God. In this text, Moses might as well be talking to us. Remember God’s Word that we may live and enter the land that has been promised to us the land of Heaven. Remember how he has led us through the wilderness of this life, the wilderness of this world, in our journey towards that promised land. Remember how God sent Jesus to live for you perfectly, to die innocently, for you on the cross, to win for you. Forgiveness. To open up access to your promised land of heaven. The win for you an eternity in a place where we will truly lack nothing. So, yes, on this Thanksgiving Day feast, enjoy the turkey, enjoy all of the food, eat until you are satisfied knowing that all of this good stuff comes from our God. Not just the food, but all of it. Every good and perfect gift comes down from our Heavenly Father. When you have eaten and when you are satisfied, remember. Remember to praise the Lord your God for all the good that He has given you. Amen.

We pray. Lord, we thank you for the blessing of every good and perfect gift. We ask that through your word. You would continue to remind us of your goodness, enabling us to live lives of thankfulness and praise in response. We praise you as our Lord and our God for all the good you have given us. Amen. The Lord’s peace be with you.