THE TEMPTATION WE RARELY ACKNOWLEDGE
In our first reading, Moses speaks to people reminding them what God had done for them: how God heard their cry and made them a strong nation, rich with all that they needed.
It is for this reason, that the people are reminded that they should return to God a portion of what they have received, so that they do not take what they have for granted – so that they do not forget that all they have is a gift.
But like ourselves, we know they forgot. How often I think that we have not come so far from our ancestors. That very first sin was a belief Adam and Eve could be god’s of their own making. Unlike Christ, they did not do so well in resisting the temptations of power and greed. You could say that is was because it so concealed so well. It looked like something good, but it was anything but.