At This Point You are Most Likely to Mess Up!

Deuteronomy 4:25
After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and arousing his anger,

In his speech to Israelites, Moses is warning them against disobeying God. He tells them that their welfare depends on obeying God. If you obey God you excel. If you disobey God disaster and frustrations will be all around you and in everything you do.

In our text today, Moses gives a revealing piece of information. He tells Israelites that they are most likely to be corrupt after a long time. He tells them to be vigilant when they have been in the Promised Land for a long time.

Our text tells us that after you have had children and grandchildren and lived in the Promised Land for a long time, you are most likely to be corrupt. When the gift of the Promised Land is still fresh in your mind, you cannot be corrupt easily. When you are still talking about the wonders of God in getting you to where you are, you cannot be easily corrupt.

After a long time familiarity will breed contempt. What seemed like a miracle will be an obvious event. The stories of salvation will be told and retold until it’s boring and normal. The worship of God which was out of awe and gratefulness will be a routine that we get out of the way in order to do what we want. At that point, Moses warns them that they are most likely to be corrupt.

When you just get a job or a business, you see the hand of God. You pray. You worship. You ascribe every credit to God and God alone. Every aspect of the job is prayed for before any further progress is made. Then after a while, you have mastered every aspect of the job or business. You feel confident and invincible. You can explain how it works and no one can tell it better than you. You pray less and less and speak of yourself confidently more and more. At this point, Moses was inspired to tell us that we are most likely to compromise and be corrupt.

When a relationship starts, you are on your best behavior. When you know you can lose the other person, you cooperate and behave well. You follow all rules and abide by best practices. Then you get used to each other and commitment to each other gives you security. You realize the other person also needs you. You become careless. You stop focusing on being good. You think more of yourself and less of your partner. At this point, Moses is inspired to tell us, we will get corrupt!

When you are newly baptized, you behave well. You almost tiptoe into the place of worship. You take notes during worship and follow up when you get home. You treat leaders and fellow members with respect. Everyone is a brother and sister. The goal is to please God. Then after a long time and you are now one of those considered dependable, you become careless. You forget it is God’s enterprise and you have an attitude that suggests this is your project. You strategize more and pray less. At this point, Moses was inspired to tell us that we will easily become corrupt!

The Peter Principle suggests that all of us will always rise to our level of incompetence. At the beginning of any assignment, we are very competent but less confident. We begin competently but as we grow and as time passes by, we move towards incompetence. Unfortunately, our most incompetent time is the time we are most confident in ourselves. Moses warned Israelites that, after a long time, they were most likely going to turn against God.

Now that this is the situation, what do we do? Over time we lose our zeal and passion, therefore we need a revival. Over time we die and we need a resurrection. Over time we forget our mission and vision and we need to be reminded. Over time we forget we are dispensable and we need to be shaken into the realization that we are not invincible. Those moments of reawakening must come from preaching, teaching, seminars, and seasonal evaluation.

Deuteronomy 4:29-31
(29) But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. (30) When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. (31) For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

Moses gives a solution. If after a long time you mess up and forget God, all is not lost. If success confused you to forget God and think you are all powerful and able, God can and still will forgive you.

When you are in distress because you forgot God, repent and He will save you. He is a merciful God. He knows that you will overtime be incompetent and yet very confident. He is merciful and will save you from the consequences of compromise and messing up due to familiarity. The condition is that you seek God with all your heart.

People who have near-death experiences get a new perspective of life and never live the same life again. That being shaken into reality is critical when we reach our levels of incompetence. A bright student who is careless may awake when they get a failure report. A diagnosis can change a patient’s life for the better if they look at things positively. When we have been around for too long, we need to be awakened so that we get re-energized for duty.

Have you reached a point you are most likely to mess up? Have you messed up already? We have a God who gives us a second chance and revives us in many ways. May God have mercy on us and revive us. May God revive our spiritual lives, our financial lives, our social lives, our physical health, our mental lives, and even our pursuit of sources of income, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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