Do you Remember?

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deut 6:5-9)
"In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders—great and terrible—upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today." (Deut 6:20-24)

How easy it is to forget the way God has blessed us, or seen us through difficult times, or opened the door for us in amazing ways. There are some things we wish we could forget. I am sure the Israelites did not want to remember the way they suffered and slaved away in Egypt, but God commanded them to. Why? Because He wanted them to remember who was God, and how He had rescued them and been with them, and provided for them, and blessed them, ultimately, with a land flowing with milk and honey.

What has God done for you? Do you remember? Last Sunday the sermon was about not forgetting, and the above scriptures were used. It reminded me of everything that God has done for me, and I really haven't remembered them and praised God for them as I should. He gave me a wonderful Christian family, I was saved at a young age, He has protected me in ways I am sure I am not even aware of, He provided a good education for me, and gave me this opportunity to live and serve overseas. Those are just a few ways in which God has blessed me, and He has opened countless doors and guided me through them more times then I care to count. Yet I forget. When things get tough, or I want to take control over my own life; I forget. I forget Christ's sacrifice when coming to earth as a human and dying on the cross to save me and everyone from eternal death. I forget how God has provided everything I have ever needed. I forget how He is always there and always ready to lead, support, encourage, and love me.

God commands us to remember. First He commands us to love Him with all our hearts, souls, and strength (vs 5), and why do we do this? So that we will remember what He did for us (vs 20). Just like when a loved one does something very special for us, we remember and we love them all the more for it. When we love God, we remember what He has done for us, and as a result we are able to love Him more - because we remember.

What has God done for you? Do you remember?