Don't Forget...

"And when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."--Deuteronomy 8:13-14.  Moses, reminding the people to keep God's commandments and to not forget where there prosperity comes from or they will become proud and forget God.  He is telling them "Don't forget."

Don't Forget.  Consider the image above It is a classic illustration of how to remember something.  Tying a string around your finger as a way of a reminder of something.  A way I remind myself of what I have to do is to jot things down on my Google calendar.  It was introduced to me by a friend this last summer. With my busy schedule, this is all so I don't forget. 

Don't Forget.  This concept of not forgetting is of course found here in Deuteronomy 8:13-14.  It can also be found in the New Testament as in 2 Peter 1:12 where Peter says he will be ready to remind Christians to add to their faith the things found in 2 Peter 1.  But it is here in Deuteronomy 8:13-14 that what would cause Israel to forget God is their prosperity.  Their prosperity would cause them to become proud and basically forget where it came from.  This is one reason they are told don't forget. 

Don't forget.  Prosperity causing a people to forget God, does this sound familiar? This concept should not be foreign to us by any stretch of the imagination.  Fact is, those of us that live in the United States live in one  of the most prosperous nations in the world.  We have no idea how blessed we really are.  The fact that you have a computer and internet access for you to access this blog is one small example of how blessed we are.   We can't forget where it all came from. 

Don't forget.  You might be saying well what about the hard economic times we have fallen on? Truth is we don't have it half as bad as other parts of the world.  Even when we are suffering financial hardship due to the economy, we here in the United States have resources that we can tap into for assistance if we need it.  Many other countries don't have that luxury or should I say that blessing that God has provided this nation with?  Don't forget where it all came from.  

Don't forget.  I can't say for certain but I would like to submit to you a supposition.  Deuteronomy 8:13-14 says that the prosperity of the Israelites would lead to them forgetting God.  This was a nation with God as their king.  My supposition is this.  Many, if not all of our founding fathers of this great nation that we live in built this nation on Biblical principles with God at the forefront.  Our schools used to have the Bible as one of their primary textbooks.  It is God's grace that caused this nation that we live in to be as prosperous as it has been since then.  Problem is that because of our prosperity, our heart has become proud and we are forgetting God.  Politicians have already succeeded in getting the Bible out of most public school classrooms but the buck has not stopped there.  Legislations such as abortion rights and recognizing homosexual marriages (which Biblically is not marriage at all) have been put forth.  This is just to name a couple.  I am not trying to make a political statement here.  I am simply demonstrating the fact that our nation has forgotten God and this is probably much of the reason we are headed in the direction that we are.  But there's hope.

The context of Deuteronomy 8:13-14 gives us a way to not forget God and no it's not the tying a string around your finger method.  Deuteronomy 8:11 says "Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandment and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today." Moses says the way to not forget God is to keep His commands, ordinances and statutes.  That being said, the only hope this nation has of bouncing back from the state its in is returning to God's commands.  This is where you and I come in.  No, I am not going to say go out and vote for or against such and such a legislation.  What I am going to say though is apply the method found in Deuteronomy 8:11 so that what is said in Deuteronomy 8:13-14 does not happen to you.  You can do this by writing the words "Don't Forget" and the Deuteronomy 8:11-14 on something you can stick on your fridge or some other visible place where you will always see it.  But more importantly, if we expect this nation to have hope of turning around, we have a responsibility to carry the gospel message out to the world beginning with those closest to us and to make disciples per Matthew 28:18-20.  We also have a responsibility to train others to do the same per 2 Timothy 2:1-2.  Consider the things which have been said and apply them to your own life.  But the bottom line is DON'T FORGET!

PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!