Don't forget the Lord

“So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage - Deuteronomy 6.10-12

God knew that the wandering was just about over. He knew that victory was at hand. He knew that His people were going to have a new land and be successful in it. He knew they would have great cities. He knew there would be full cities. He knew their crops would flourish. God knew that they would be filled.

But God also knew there would be a temptation to think that they had done it. He knew that they would claim the victory and think ‘more highly of themselves than they ought to think.’

So God had to tell them ‘be careful that you don’t forget the Lord.’

We tend to be pretty self-sufficient and self-reliant and self-dependent. All that can make us think that we are pretty good and pretty self-accomplished. When God does things in our loves and gives us great victories we can forget who actually did it and we think that we somehow did it.

So we, just like Israel, are warned not to forget the Lord who gave us the victory. We need to remember ‘to God be the glory great things He hath done,’ not what great things we have done. Instead of glorying in ourselves we need to remember that ‘of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’

We can’t afford to forget God – not only is He our victory on the past – He is our hope for the future.