"So you don't forget me."

A couple weekends ago, I received three gifts in three days, each with the tagline, "So you don't forget me." These gifts warmed my heart and brought an incredible smile to my face while saying, "Of course I won't forget you!"


While I do have a specific memory for people who have impacted my life, with these gifts, I especially won't forget these three people....

...but sometimes memories fail us.

Sometimes we forget.

As I read through Deuteronomy a few weeks ago, the theme of remembering really stood out to me. Over and over, God basically says don't forget or else. He also says over and over that not forgetting is an active process and an intentional action.

"Only take care and keep you soul diligently lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children." (Deuteronomy 4:9)

This phrase, "lest you forget," is repeated at least three more times in the next few chapters (Deut. 4:23; 6:12; 8:11). I think God was trying to make a point, what about you? What was His point? His point was that "if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish" (Deut. 8:19).

Other gods? What other gods? Money, food, weight, perfectionism, working out, success in work, relationships...anything that distracts and causes us to forget the things God has asked us to remember.

I don't know about you, but when I forget to follow what the LORD has asked me to do 

or forget to keep my promises 

or forget to follow through 

or forget to place others before myself 

or forget God's past faithfulness in stressful situations

etc., etc., etc., 

I often feel like I am perishing. No, I am not literally perishing, but I feel like I am because I feel distant from the Father. And, if we aren't careful and remember to turn back to the Father, our actions and forgetfulness very well could lead to literal perishing.

Again, I don't know about you, but this command from the Father sometimes feels impossible to do well. But guess what, it's not!

"For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach...

But the word is very near you, in your mouth, and in your heart that you may observe it.

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity in that I command you today to love the ord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments that you may live and multiply and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. 

But if your heart turns away...you shall surely perish...

So choose life in order that you may live by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice and by holding fast to Him." (Deut. 30:11-20)

Did you catch that?

First, it's not too difficult! 

Second, in either remembering or forgetting, we are either choosing life or death. 

Life or death. When looked at like that, it seems like an easy choice! But in the moment, it doesn't usually feel that easy. 

We get distracted and we forget. 

We forget that our God is bigger. 

We forget His past faithfulness. 

We forget the things He's asked us to do.

Father God, help us to remember. Help us to remember your commands and your past faithfulness, to follow through on what we know you have asked us to do, and to seek you first, pushing the distraction to the wayside. Oh LORD, help us to take care lest we forget.