Lest Thou Forget

View from Clitheroe Castle

A question arose as to the source of verses I post. Not that they don’t come from the Bible, that’s obvious. I give chapter, verse and version of the Bible I read. The best answer is that they come from experiences.

I do not have a daily devotional reading plan, there’s not a book or pamphlet I’m reading through. There aren’t specific books or chapters I follow. Often I look for a Biblical application to a personal situation, or one that applies for a good friend of mine. Reading the Bible and prayer with our Lord is the best source of answers to life’s problems, whether they are mine or someone I love. In those instances, a good concordance – or e-Sword with its marvelous search options – will take me to verse with words that tie into the train of thought.

Another excellent source are verses given during services. Sometimes they are the verses the preacher uses in his sermon. Such are verses I’m re-reading this morning.

They were used by a missionary couple leaving this weekend for England. Missionaries to England. That thought seems strange to me. During the 19th century there were so many strong preachers in England – Charles Haddon Spurgeon comes to mind first. The preceding century brought John Wesley. Before that, the drive for religious freedoms sent ships to establish colonies in the Americas. It appears that drive to worship has been lost.

These missionaries are going not to build new churches in a country that does not have them, but have been called to assist churches that are dying. From a 2007 Sunday Times article about English churches: "Thousands of churches face closure, demolition or conversion in the next decade, leading to the demise of some branches of Christianity in Europe, according to experts. In some parts of the country, former churches are being turned into centres of worship for other faiths. A disused Methodist chapel in Clitheroe on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales is the latest, destined to become a mosque for the town’s 300 Muslims."

The article continues, stating that more than 70 per cent of the population consider themselves to be Christian, many holding membership in the Church of England. However, one tenth of them attend church.

The text the missionary used was from Deuteronomy’s sixth chapter, verses 1 through 25. What caught my eye most is:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. [Deuteronomy 6:4-7 KJV]

What failures we parents are when they do not teach this diligently to our children in our own homes. We should be doing so when we sit with them, when we walk with them, when we talk with them. We should be praying when we close the day and when we open it, and share that with our children.

Mine are gone from home. That does not mean I cannot teach them, though. I am so blessed to be with two of my children in church services where the word of God is taught. God forbid that I should ever forget to teach of Him.

Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, [Deuteronomy 6:12a KJV]