Never Forget The One . . .

We spent a few days with relatives near Tulsa, visiting their church Sunday morning for worship service and Sunday School. We’ve done that at least a couple of times a year for several decades now. The message Sunday morning was found in Deuteronomy 26:

And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there. (Deuteronomy 26:1-2 KJV)

God didn’t need these first fruits of the land. They would come in handy for the needs of the priests, but our God created everything. All they brought was His anyway, and that’s what their compliance meant – they acknowledged God’s sovereignty. That’s what they were never to forget. 

And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us. (Deuteronomy 26:3 KJV)

Their act of obedience brought to memory the God that brought them out of Egypt, into the land He had promised so many generations before. For the time in between, He had seen to their needs and to their deliverance. They were to remember all of that.

They forgot.

And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. (Judges 2:10 KJV)

Have we done any better? In our dash to the future, have we forgotten our past? Have we forgotten our Creator?

During the service I thought of how much our Lord has done for me. I also thought of the years when I did not attend a church to share His work with others. My error, His forgiveness. Someday, with Him, I may learn of the blessings I missed while not walking closely with Him. My loss, His forgiveness.
It does me no good to spend time regretting the past. Learn from my error, then move forward in His will. The past cannot be changed, spending time there is non-productive. I must not, however, forget. Never forget the One who brought me this far.

I need to remember promises, made and kept:

This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: (Deuteronomy 26:16-17 KJV)