Much of Deuteronomy is a retelling of Israel’s past, the good and the bad. Moses’ desire was for them to remember, not just their checkered past, corporately and individually, but the bountiful goodness and promises of God to support them in their present state and prepare them for the future.
As we, in the United States, enter into a holiday that centers around thanksgiving, we can use our Sabbath School study of Deuteronomy to good advantage. It is entirely appropriate to spend time praising God for giving us such plentiful sustenance. Our family dining room tables will soon be sagging with the weight of delicious foods to remind us of the provisions of God He so generously bestows.
But something would be missing from all our celebrations, if we didn’t look at the more difficult times other families are facing, not just around the holidays, but all through the year. The most appropriate way to give thanks to God might be to lighten someone else’s burden, as much as is possible for you to do. And not just around the holidays, for the needs don’t stop at the whim of a seasonal calendar.
God, through Moses, told us to give food and clothing to those less fortunate (Deuteronomy 10:18, 19). And that doesn’t mean give them your leftovers or clothes you no longer wear. It means, I believe, giving the very best we have. A gift we also would like to receive. How else can we love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31)?
How else can we love our Savior? For inasmuch as you did it for the least of these, you did it for Him (Matthew 25:40).
