Articles
"Are You Fat?"
Are You Fat?
I realize I am the last person qualified to ask if someone is fat, so do not think I am not referring to physical weight in posing that question. The obesity I am referring to is in earthly abundance. Have we forgotten the Lord because of the prosperity we enjoy in life?
God warned the Israelites of this when He established them in the land of Canaan. He said, “When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant” (Deut. 31:20). This is exactly what happened. They lived better than they ever could in Egypt yet forgot to see God as the source of life and prosperity, in the land flowing “with milk and honey.” They grew accustomed to their abundance, thinking they could fare just fine without Him, and rebelled against Him as their Creator.
In our abundance as Americans, we can easily forget our Maker and believe we can exist without Him. We have every gadget and convenience imaginable at our fingertips. When we want to hear, see or taste anything, we are a button or car ride away from making it happen. Plus, our quality of life is incredible. Most places in the world do not have our abundance of energy, food, housing or electronics. We have cleaner water flowing into our toilet tank than most people have available for drinking. We are truly overflowing with prosperity in this land of milk and honey. So, in our fatness, let us remember our Creator and our accountability to Him. It is through Him that we “live and move and have our very being” (Acts 17:28) and the One to whom “every knee shall bow” (Rom. 14:11). May we never choke on our blessings by loving them more than the generous God who shared them with us.
Most of all, let us remember the redemption He has made available to us through His Beloved Son. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Such love and mercy should motivate us to seek His forgiveness more than the fatness of life. Thus, let us be saved by trusting and obeying our Savior who said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16).
–Mike Thomas
