Living to Remember

Jim:

Two of today’s readings, from Deuteronomy and James, deal with not forgetting God, and the third, from Luke, helps us remember to whom we belong.

Deuteronomy 8:11-20
I was touched today by verse 11: “Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am giving you today.” Moses’s words were a warning to the people of Israel to obey God’s law, in part so that they would not forget their relationship to the one who had led them to the edge of the promised land. The risk they faced was becoming complacent, and then believing that they themselves had brought about their liberation from slavery and their conquest of Canaan. But who can forget God? We talk about God and religion all the time. Even popular culture is full of biblical references, like Noah’s ark, or the tower of Babel. And then there are Christmas and Easter that even non-Christians celebrate in a variety of ways. So who’s going to forget God? Unfortunately we do, every time we find it convenient. By making bad choices, by turning our backs on those around us, by denying God when it suits us we begin to believe that we are responsible for our own lives and forget that God is the one who created us and who claims us. By striving to live according to God’s word we can remain focused on God and God’s will for us.

James 1:16-27
Verse 25 in James says much the same thing as Deuteronomy 8:11: “But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.” Not only are we to remain faithful to God’s will, but we are to let God’s will animate us to acts of compassion and mercy. It is much easier to learn a skill, like woodworking for example, if you actually take the tools in your hands and use them. You could try to learn woodworking in theory alone, or by watching a DVD on the subject, but it is much more likely that you will remember what you learn if you are actually doing it. The same goes for a life in Christ. You can deal with God’s will in theory only, even reflecting on what the word may mean for you. But it is much easier to live a life in Christ is you are active in doing what Christ is calling us all to do.

Luke 11:1-13
This passage contains Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer which, as a regular part of a devotional life, can help us not only to recognize God’s activity in our midst, but to live as God intends us to.