DON’T FORGET GOD!
Deut. 4:9 NLT
But watch out! Be very careful never to forget what you have seen the Lord do for you. Do not let these things escape your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.
Deut. 8:10-14 NLT
When you have eaten your fill, praise the Lord for the good land he has given you. But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and laws. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have multiplied along with everything else, that is the time to be careful. Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.
Don’t forget God! I cannot begin to tell you how deeply this is etched into my brain. How many times I have read and reread these passages of Scripture. How many times I have read over Psalm 106 and these phrases burned into my soul, “They soon forgot“, “Yet how quickly they forgot“, “They forgot God, their Savior, who had done such great things for them in the land of Egypt-such wonderful things in that land!”
How could they possibly forget?? How could we possibly forget all that the Lord God, Giver, and Creator of all, our savior Jesus Christ has done for us, given to us, provided for us, rescued us from, and yet oh my friends, how soon we forget. How quickly we become dull and listless, forgetful, and distracted.
Don’t we all have in some way or another a fine home to live in? Hasn’t God in his great mercy rescued us for our cruel slavery to sin, from the futile way of life handed down to us by our forefathers, and the enslavement to our passions, greed, and evil desires? Hasn’t God in his great mercy saved us from our self-destructive ways and stupidity? Have we not all experienced in some way or another, wonderful and profound answers to our prayers, and God provided or did what seemed impossible? Have we not each been lavishly showered by God with many rich and eternal blessings?
Let me ask you honestly when was the last time you thought about those verses above and read them with a fearful seriousness? Have they escaped your mind? When was the last time you ate your fill, and then praised the Lord for that wonderful food he gave you! We must never, ever, ever let God and these things escape our minds.
If we forget, most surely our children and grandchildren will forget. If we fail to make diligent, conscious, deliberate efforts to remember God, to adhere to his word and his commands ourselves, we most certainly will not pass them on to our children or grandchildren and we will doom them to the same deadly disease of forgetfulness of God and his wonderful ways and goodness to us!
WE SIN AGAINST GOD WHEN WE LET OURSELVES FORGET!
DO NOT LET YOURSELF FORGET!
Let me urge you, dear friends, to read and reread these passages of Scripture. Make a daily practice to remember God! Make a daily practice to remember what he has done for you! Make a daily practice to pray to God, to praise the Lord your God, and thank him. Make a daily practice to speak to your children about God and his goodness and faithfulness to you and your family. Make a daily practice to bring God up in conversations with your children. Make a daily practice to pray with them during your day about different things. Make a daily practice to teach them his commands in one way or another.
I was recently watching 3 of my grandsons. They love dinosaurs! They draw them, they build them out of Legos, and they know the names and many facts about those dinosaurs. It was amazing to me what they knew. As they shared with me about them, and I listened intently to their stories, I did not fail to interject, “Boys, isn’t God amazing that he made such incredible creatures like dinosaurs? God made them just so you would be able to see how powerful and magnificent God is. So you would know your heavenly Father made them for you to enjoy them so much! Nothing is too hard for God.”
Recently I was at my grandchildren’s cross country meet. One of my granddaughters gets very nervous, just like I do myself. She walked over to where I was standing and said, “Grandpa, I am really nervous and a little scared about this race. Would you pray with me?” I was so thrilled she asked me! I said, “Sweetheart, I would love to.” Then and there I put my hand on her shoulder and prayed with her, calling out to God to help her in this race and to calm her nerves and give her courage. She had a great race! God wants to be in every detail of our lives, and we need to bring him right into each detail of our children and grandchildren’s lives as well.
Don’t forget God! This is why I pray so much. This is why I pray every day with my wife over our children and our grandchildren. I am determined to be a man, who never, ever forgets God, who never, ever lets these things escape from my mind! I urge you dear friends to do the very same thing.
Fathers, make a resolution right now, to stop your lackadaisical approach to your faith, and develop rigorous faith practices and routines in your life starting today. Faith practices that truly honor and remember God.
As we and our children eagerly look forward to Christmas, this is a great time to intentionally remember God and our savior Jesus Christ! One practical way is simple Advent readings, laid out for each day until Christmas, that you can do with your family.
To help you remember! Please listen to these!
https://strongdisciple.com/
https://strongdisciple.com/
Merry Christmas!
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
|
