Forgetting God

"You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; 

you forgot the God who gave you birth."

Deut. 32:18

"No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side."

Judges 8:33-34

I have often forgotten something. I forget my keys, my phone and sometimes the very notes I plan to teach in an hour.  We humans are really good at forgetting....

...but to forget God?

How is that possible?

As I think about Israel coming out of Egypt walking through the sea on dry land, seeing miracle after miracle, eating manna for 40 years, seeing water come from a rock in the desert and so much more only to forget God I realize how easy this is for us as well.

We forget the most important one in our lives, 

the one who made us and loves us.

We forget to remember all he has done.  A day comes when things get hard, when money is tight, when sickness is our reality and we forget the very one who has cared for us every moment of our lives!

How do we forget so easily?

David, the psalmist, realized how easy we forget, how often we turn away and wrote down what God had done for him so when depression came, when doubt rose he could remind himself of God's amazing faithfulness.

One of my favorite quotes from the early church is from an old martyr who, being offered clemency for denying Christ, said...

When we remember the amazing God we serve it makes any situation a chance to serve him.  He never leaves us or forsakes us. 

So, I wake up each morning with these first works, "Good morning, Father, how was the night?"  as I begin a new day in the presence of the one who cares for me every moment.

May I never forget the one who died for me.