There is a Biblical principle regarding the nation of Israel that God showed them favor and brought them into a covenant relationship. He gave them the promised land and blessed them...with a caveat. He also cursed them if they broke the covenant. One generation saw the fulfilling of God's promise and another was led into captivity for their disobedience.
This happens in the USA, too. Here, we have bounty. This incredible land is practically flowing with milk and honey. From the fertile soil to the temperate climate to the privilege of land ownership, we can provide food for ourselves and the entire world. It shows, of course, in the obesity epidemic. Without self-discipline, the blessing of abundance is a curse.
Aesop's Fable about the crow and the serpent is an excellent tale that serves up the same moral. The famished crow sees the serpent and greedily scoops him up without noticing he is poisonous. Immediately, of course, the serpent fatally bites the bird and the bird cries out that what he had hoped would sustain him has ended him.
How often do lottery winners fail to seek wise counsel and lose it all in a few short years? How many professional athletes squander enough money to live well for a lifetime because they do not plan for a future beyond sports? From the rich and famous who die alone doing drugs to the workaholic who cannot define "enough" and loses everything, this story is all too common.
The real moral is that anything that takes God's place is a curse. He is good all the time, but He also tells us He is jealous for our affection. When we keep a proper perspective of the Gift and the Giver, we seek an abundance of wise counsel and plan accordingly and God blesses abundantly. The second lesson is that we must teach the next generation to do the same or they risk being led astray.
May God give us wisdom and restraint and abundant blessings we can pass from generation to generation.
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