It seems to be happening more frequently as time goes on. I know that the information is stored somewhere in my brain . . . just can’t seem to find the drawer I filed it in. Things that I sense I should be able to retrieve which, for some reason, seem to be hiding in a fog somewhere. And it’s not just the old stuff . . . there’s new stuff that I tuck away which, 45 minutes later, seems to have disappeared . . . like a coin in the hand of magician. Forgetfulness . . . reminded of it daily. But this morning, as I continue reading in Deuteronomy, I am again reminded to diligently combat forgetfulness . . .

Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His rules and His statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery . . . Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God . . .   
(Deuteronomy 8:11-18 ESV)

The people of Israel are poised on the doorstep of the promised land. It’s right over there . . . soon they will move in and start taking possession of it. Moving into cities they did not build . . . decorating houses they didn’t have to buy . . . sowing and reaping in vineyards they didn’t have to establish . . . taking possession of material wealth they were not in line to inherit. These were a people of promise . . . just on the other side of that river was the promise. And, as part of doing final prep, Moses warns them, “Take care lest you forget.”

They are a people delivered from Egypt . . . a people redeemed with a mighty hand from the house of slavery . . . “a people holy to the LORD your God” . . . a people chosen “for His treasured possession” . . . not because of their greatness . . . but because of the great love of their God who, in His sovereign grace, has determined to enter into covenant relationship with them (Deut. 7:6-8). Sound familiar? It’s enough of a hook to draw me in and receive the words of Deuteronomy like they were meant for me. And so I hear the warning, “Take care lest you forget.”

This is the fourth time in these first 8 chapters of Deuteronomy that Moses has heralded the warning (4:9, 4:23, 6:12, 8:11). And I’m thinking I would do well to have ears to hear.

Too easy, as time passes, to forget. The distance from my “deliverance from Egypt” increases . . . and so does the joy of my salvation . . . and the wonder of why He would rescue me. I’m getting familiar with the ways of this new world I’m living in . . . such that, that which I once pursued passionately has become that which I do out of routine . . . able to go through the motions on autopilot. As I enjoy the blessings of this place of promise, I start thinking that somehow I earned it . . . it’s mine to do with as I please because I worked hard for it. And so, I forget.

So easy to forget the God who rescued me from darkness and from the bondage of sin. To forget the price paid for my redemption . . . the shed blood of God’s beloved Son. To forget the wonder and awe of the increasing realization and reality of being in relationship with the God of all creation. To become so familiar with the ways of the people of God that, what was once a pursuit, has now become something that I try to fit into my busy schedule. To become so familiar with the Word of God that instead of hungering and thirsting after it, as I did once, it becomes a “rabbit’s foot to be rubbed” with a quick devo reading in the morning. To start believing my own “press clippings” on what a good job I’ve done of shaping a moral, upright character . . . forgetting the work of the abiding Spirit who has undertaken to shape this lump of clay into a vessel of honor. Oh, how easy to forget . . .

You shall remember the LORD your God! Yes Lord! That’s my desire . . . by Your grace . . . for Your glory . . . lest I forget.