Moses warned the people of Israel to remember the Lord after He brought them into the Promised Land and met all of their needs.
10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (ESV)
God is so faithful and good to us. Countless times, we and others turn to Him in prayer to ask Him to do any number of things for us – to heal a sickness, get us through a surgery, calm us down at the dentist or doctor or in the MRI machine, restore a broken relationship, free us from the slavery of addiction, find something we have lost, or bring us through a difficult moment of anxiety. We turn to Him at any moment of day or night when we have a need.
God often answers “Yes” to such prayers, bringing us safely through each crisis, large or small. Sometimes, though, the answer is “No”. If this be the case, He will lead us through our valley of grief and despair, hold us close, and bring us to a place of comfort and peace in Him.
But what about afterwards? After He has answered our prayers and safely delivered us through our trial, how do we respond to Him? When a little time has passed, aren’t we sometimes prone to forget about the Lord and all He has done for us, and turn our full attention back towards other things?
The Israelites did. Over the years, now in the comfort of their new land, they turned their backs on God and began to worship false gods and foreign idols. Are we not sometimes tempted to do the same thing, in a modern way?
God knows that we can be fickle but He loves us anyway. When we are feeling comfortable with our needs satisfied, we may begin to turn our backs on God to pursue some idol that replaces Him, such as status, pleasure, high position, fame, riches, obsessive hobby or sporting activity, making ever-more money, abusing alcohol or drugs, gambling, or anything that consumes our time and attention to the point where we have none left for Him. If this be the case, the Lord surely notices and is grieved by our neglect. No one enjoys being forgotten, especially our Creator, Redeemer, and Great Provider, who has every right to our worship and attention.
God knew enough about human nature that He warned the Israelites through Moses about this very thing. Of course, in the end, they did forget the warning and turned away from the God who loved them.
Isn’t it so easy for us to do the same?
Reflection
What in my life is crowding out or degrading my time with God?
Father God, help me to set aside the idols in my life that pull me away from You. Help me to worship you and to be filled with gratitude for all the good You have provided and all of the wonders you have performed for me. You are so very good. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 