One of the most painful things we in youth ministry face is seeing young people who were on fire for the Lord turning away from the faith as they get older. Moses traces the root issue of apostasy to forgetting God (Deuteronomy 8:11, 14, 19) and he offers several principles to avoid this pitfall.

First, he urges the people to ″be careful″ to obey God (vv. 1, 6, 11). This may be the charge given most often in Deuteronomy (see Day 9). Carelessness is the mother of sin, and we must battle it until the day we die. Consciously working on obeying God-whether it is in our relationships with our spouses, children, and members of the opposite sex, our thought life, handling money, our use of the internet, the consistency of our devotional life-keeps our hearts yielded to the Lord, and prevents us from falling away.

Second, Moses exhorts them to be intentional about remembering how God sustained them during their tough times (vv. 2-6). God supplied all their needs during the 40-year wilderness period. The miraculous provision of food (manna) in the barren wilderness taught the people to look to God and His word for their needs. Jesus quoted this passage to Satan when tempted to turn stones into bread (Matthew 4:4). Don't look back on tough times with bitterness! Remember how God sustained you.

Third, Moses encourages them to praise God for His blessings (Deuteronomy 8:7-10). Prosperity often results in busyness, which leaves no time for meditating on God's goodness. It then becomes easy to forget God and that He is the one ″who gives you the ability to produce wealth″ (v. 18), to become proud and take the credit for successes, and eventually to ignore His commands (vv. 11-14).

Moses also provides a model for remembering God. He meditates on the goodness of the land, with its ample resources of water, rich vegetation, and metals (vv. 7-9). The satisfying experience of enjoying the produce of the land results in praise ″for the good land he has given″ (v. 10). This would prompt the people to remember that God was the one who brought them to the point they were at by amazing acts of deliverance and protection (vv. 14-16). Praise is an effective way to not forget God.

Fourth, Moses explains that those who bask in arrogant self-congratulation and illegitimately take the credit that belongs to God will be confronted with judgment (vv. 19-20). Such confrontation could result in their seeking God, as it did with the prosperous and powerful king Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4). When confronted by God, may we not fight His discipline but take it as His gift aimed at bringing us back to the thing that matters the most in life-a restored relationship with Him.