Have you ever forgotten something? I mean something really important? Like, you know, your kids? My oldest son ran track last year for the first time, and his practice got done right around the time my youngest got off the bus. So in all the chaos and distraction of Alli getting off the bus, I forgot Alex. A lot. To the point that I think his coach put my number on speed dial so it didn’t take as much time to call me and tell me to come get Alex so he could go home.
And that’s not the only time I forgot to pick them up. In fact, it got to the point that I had to enter alarms into my phone to remind me when school or track or football was over so I wouldn’t forget them. (Bad mom award, I know.)
When you get focused on one thing, it’s super easy to forgot something else, no matter how important that something else is.
When you have eaten your fill in this land, be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 6:12)
I read through the Bible every year, and I have always found it interesting just how many times He tells them, “Be careful not to forget the Lord.” Really? How could they possibly forget after everything they had experienced? The 10 plagues. The mighty deliverance from Egypt. The parting of the Red Sea. Getting water from a Rock. The manna and quail. His presence constantly with them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
How in the world could they forget God?
The cool thing about God is – He knows us. Psalm 103:14 says, “For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.” He created us and knows our tendencies and weaknesses better than we do ourselves. So, if He warns us about something – like don’t forget Me – chances are that the tendency is that we will forget Him, so we need to pay extra attention that we don’t.
But God didn’t just tell them Don’t Forget Me without giving them a plan to make sure they remembered.
“Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
Talk about them. Repeat them again and again. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead. Write them on your doorposts.
I particularly love the tie them on your hands and wear them on your forehead one. That’s pretty extreme. I can see it now. “Ooo, I love your bracelet!” “Oh thanks….it’s the latest style…wearing the Word!” That would be one heavy bracelet.
Sometimes it takes being extreme about it to remember. You would think it would just be natural because of how very much He has done for us, but in reality, sometimes it’s just a struggle. Once you throw in life complete with spouses and jobs and kids and church activities and PTO and sports and grocery shopping and cleaning and laundry and….and….and (insert your own kind of chaos here)….forgetting can be pretty easy to do.
It’s when we forget Him that our hearts can get cold. It’s when we forget Him that we miss it. It’s when we forget Him that we lose our peace and our joy and fear can settle in.
One thing is for sure, you can’t forget someone that you’re looking right at all the time. You don’t have to tie a Bible to your hands to keep your eyes on Him. But it does take a conscious effort at times to do just that. Write a verse on a note card and tuck it in your pocket to look at through the day. E-mail yourself a verse in the morning so it’s in your inbox all day. Set an alarm if you have to so you don’t forget to turn your eyes and thoughts to Him throughout the day.
Once we get into the habit of keeping our eyes fixed on Him all day long, I think we’ll be surprised at how much more peaceful and joyful our days can be.
My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body. (Proverbs 4:20-22)