Deuteronomy 26:1-11 – Cultivating a life of gratitude

God had sovereignly chosen Israel to be His covenant people. He started off the process by calling Abraham out of the Ur of Chaldee, promising to bless him with a people. Israel became a people and eventually a nation through the 12 children of  Jacob. It was in Egypt that they were organized into bonds and greatly suffered at the hand of Pharaoh. God raised Moses as a deliverer to lead them out of Egypt. However, because of their stubbornness and rebelliousness, a longer time was necessitated to prepare them for God’s promised land. Throughout all those times, God's faithfulness toward them did not diminish. He could be angry and deal with them, but He would still show mercy and compassion. In the light of His immense patience with them, Israel as a nation should be greatly indebted to Him. It was only right that they acknowledge God's faithful hand over the nation and be a people of gratitude. In Deuteronomy 26 Moses brought an end to the address which he began in chapter 5, where he called for the people to show their gratitude to God.

Deuteronomy 26 began with the anticipation that they would soon enter the promised land, before specifying what they must do when they had finally possessed the land. The first eleven verses stipulate the thing they must do when they had settled down, planted their crops, and reaped their first harvest. They must take a portion of the first harvest, put them in a basket and go to the place where the Lord their God had chosen to establish His name. There before the presiding priest, they would publicly acknowledge that they have entered the promised land which God had promised their fathers to give to them. When the priest had placed the basket they had brought on the altar, they would publicly declare God’s gracious dealings with them. They would recount how from a humble beginning, their wandering fathers were brought to Egypt and had to suffer under the heavy hand of Pharoah. It was also God who had delivered them with His mighty hand and brought them into their inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey. In essence, they were recounting how God had kept His word and granted them the privilege to see the fulfillment of that promise. As they acknowledged God’s goodness, they together with the Levites, and the foreigner who came with them, would worship, celebrate, and rejoice in the wonderful provision of God.

The recollection of their humble beginning, their slavery in Egypt, God’s mighty hand of deliverance, and the possession of the promised land were all meant to arouse their sense of gratitude. The need for God to stipulate what they must do when they had harvested their first fruits, leaves the unflattering inference that they were a forgetful people. As we learn this about them, we are also reminded that we are no different from them in this regard. We too can be a forgetful people. And like them, we need to constantly reflect on all the experiences of how God had brought us through our difficult moments in life and gratefully thank Him for them. Recollecting His goodness is a great way to remember His goodness in our lives. Don’t become a forgetful person. Instead, seek to be grateful for all that God had done for us. Gratitude is that vital ingredient to a God-pleasing life. Don’t live life without it!