Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Key to Popularity | Torah | Deuteronomy 26

Episode Date: November 1, 2022

Are people drawn to you? Do others want to be around you? In today's episode, Tanya shares some lessons from Deuteronomy 26 about how to be well-liked. Spoiler alert: have humility. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Deuteronomy 26 Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. Do you all remember sixth grade? Well, my sixth grader has a good friend that switched to a different school during the pandemic. And they still get together, but I knew my daughter was missing having her by her side in her new and really big middle school. This isn't our first time around the middle school block. And she's watched a few siblings walk those halls. She's heard stories about who's in and who's out.

Who becomes popular for the right reasons and the not-to-right ones. She's pretty outgoing, so I kind of took for granted that she must be navigating her sixth-grade year pretty well. But I was a little surprised by her response when we heard that her old friend was moving back to public school next year. And I asked her if she was excited. And she said, yeah, you know, because in middle school, dramatic pause, you need all the friends you can get.

I guess she has discovered what we all have. You need all the friends you can get in middle school. But really, having friends around us makes a big difference. No matter how old we are, it feels good to be known and have people to talk to. It's fun to be invited and not so fun to feel like you're missing out. How do we build a kind of network with good and kind people? Or in other words, how do we become popular for the right reasons? When the Israelites were ready to leave for Canaan, God expected them to live differently than the

pagan nations. And he told them that a caring community would protect them from outside influence, also known as idol worship. And Moses told them following God's commands and building their lives his way would bring glory and honor and blessing. Do you want to have friends and influence? Well, follow me. I mean, Patrick, on Twitter for more tips. But for today, here are three. Key number one, don't take the credit. Okay, so you probably work hard, but so do a lot of other people. You probably have great, innovative ideas, but so do a lot of other people. Hard work and innovation are part of God's design.

When we do these things, we are reflecting God's image. We are also pretty lucky people. I've heard the antidote that if you were born in America, you were born on third base. Even if you weren't born in America, there are things that you've been given just because the first key to being the kind of person that attracts others is to realize that everything we have is a gift from God. Moses repeats this over and over before the Israelites go into the promised land. In Deuteronomy 26, he does it again, starting the chapter, when you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken

possession of it and live in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose to make His name dwell there. I think Moses knew the key to fighting pride. One of the greatest tragedies of our personality is taking credit for things we didn't deserve.

God created us in his image, which means he does give us power and intellect to accomplish his will and glorify him. But we misuse it, and try to be him. The Israelites are going into the land the Lord had already secured. Their working fields the Lord provided.

They're harvesting the crops the Lord watered. When the first fruits are ready, they're supposed to put them in a basket and then place them on an altar where everyone can see what God has done. Our efforts also produce a crop, so to speak. Who gets the credit for that harvest in your life? Do you point it back to yourself?

or do you understand that it came from God and help others see the same? All right. Popularity key number two. Elevate others. When we make personal gains, it's easy to develop a group of followers. People naturally like to be around people who are successful, and it feels really good to be on a winning team. And there's nothing wrong with success. But how do we celebrate it well?

How do we use it in a way that's winsome instead of off-putting. Each time we experience success, we have an opportunity to elevate ourselves or elevate others. And the Bible teaches that true joy and contentment are not synonymous with personal kingdoms. In fact, the more we point back to ourselves, the less happy we will be. Doesn't that sounds so backward to the way we naturally think? God developed a system for the Israelites that would use their gifts to elevate and care from one another. It was called the tithe of the third year, and the Israelites were supposed to bring a portion of their harvest to the local officials

as a worship offering to the Lord. Bring in the offering then, they would set it before the Lord, and they would all rejoice together about all the good the Lord had given. Then this is amazing. The offering would be used to feed the Levites, the stranger, the foreigner, the orphans, and the widows. and it would all be a big and fun and fulfilling celebration that would honor God. The scripture says, you will eat in your towns and be filled. And I think this means more than just filling their bellies.

It is so much better for us to elevate and care for others than hoard the gifts and praise for ourselves. And it feels so much better. Sharing God's gifts and blessings is essential to building a life of winsome joy and gratitude. Key number three to popularity. Create a life of contentment. We can be really annoying people when we need people to notice us. I think seventh grade boys wrote the book

on how to do this. No offense, gentlemen. We should all look in the mirror because we just get more cunning at how we go about it. Take the humble brag, for instance. Everyone in the room knows we're doing it, and we do it anyway.

When we seek affirmation and identity outside of God, we find ourselves spinning on that proverbial hamster will, where enough is never enough. One of the most destructive things about our sinful natures is when things of the world are more appealing to us than things of God. During the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel often wanted to go back to Egypt and eat the food there, because it looked more appealing, but this always got them into trouble. They were God's treasured possession, but they wanted to trade all of that in for a quick hit.

We like our quick hits too. We do seek glory and honor and fame in our clothes, our athleticism, our speaking abilities, and a host of other things. But the high these things gives just leaves us wanting more. God's word speaks differently about glory and honor. In this same speech, Moses says, And the Lord is declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his complete.

manments, and then he'll set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all the nations that he has made. We're really worried about what people think of us. So we craft a life to look glorious that leaves us lonely and empty. I like the way Psalm 1 describes true glory and honor that come from God. It says, Blessed is a man who walks not in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. He's like a tree, planted by streams of water,

that yield its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. When we submit our hearts to God and follow his commands, we're like that tree. We reflect his glory. Instead of feeling like we're on that hamster wheel, we feel contentment. We find joy in doing the work he puts in front of us

and taking care of the people in our scope of influence. In Philippians 411, Paul says, I have learned whatever state I am in to be content. Jesus met Paul on Paul's height of self-glory. Paul knows what it's like to be popular for the wrong reasons. And Paul knows what it's like to learn the contentment of surrendering a life to Jesus. Paul couldn't and wouldn't have done it on his own, but Jesus rescued him from his pride and lack of belief.

We learn contentment when we tell ourselves no. I have a friend who tells herself, dead end. When our thoughts and desires go down a path of lies, we can say, dead end. I choose something better. I have something better. I have the presence of the Lord of my life and all of his promises for a better future. All of the sparkling, attractive, glimmering things of the world, when brought into our lives, will not make us winsome, attractive people.

When we hold them in our hands and embrace them in our hearts, they won't be able to provide the happiness, the popularity we never stop seeking. They won't satisfy our longing hearts. But living inside God's boundaries, grateful for what he is provided and recognizing the love behind it all, the extravagant love behind it all, that will crowd out the unpopular and needy desires of our flesh. May we have the grace to see that everything good comes from God and reflect his glory to those around us. That is what will make us attractive to the outside world. He is what will make us attractive. He is the one we draw them to. Before you forget, sign up for the

brand new TNBT newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes, and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help you beat the midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.