“Beware lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this ...””
"I've got the power" is the hook in an early '90s rap song by the group Snap. The lyric originated in Germany, went international, and still echoes around the world.
Reading Deuteronomy, I wonder if Snap stole that line from the nation of Israel.
Israel stood on the banks of the Jordan River, they were poised to storm the new land. As they prepared to cross, God wanted his people to remember their true source of power. See if you can pick up his not-so-subtle hints:
When the LORD your God brings you ... 7:1
When the LORD your God gives you ... 7:2
The LORD your God has chosen you ... 7:6
The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand ... 7:8
The LORD your God ... keeps covenant ... 7:9
Man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD ... 8:3
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land ... 8:7
It is [the LORD] who gives you power to get wealth ... 8:18
““I’ve got the power!” Yeah, right! ”
How often I launch into a new day, labor at an initiative, or rush into a meeting and subtly (or not so subtly) think (or act) like "I've got the power."
Well . . . I don't and I do.
I don't have the power -- because my every breath comes from God. But then, I do have the power, because the God who grants the breath grants the power to act in the moment he gives it. And then--even better--He powerfully acts on my behalf in that moment.
“Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God.”
God's word to Israel was a fresh reminder of His incredible grace. I don't have the power. I can't do anything on my own today or any day. But because I have him -- or better -- because He has me, I do have the power. I love the way Jesus puts it:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Where do you need to acknowledge, rest in, and lean on the power of God today?