then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Deuteronomy 6:11b-12 NIV
Yesterday we started our 8th Bible Reading Marathon in which we take 80 hours to read publicly Genesis to Revelation. It has been my privilege to take the early morning hours (like 2 to 6 am) to monitor and read God’s word. This morning I read most of the book of Deuteronomy.
There is a lot of repetition of phrases in Moses writings like “not forgetting the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Usually it adds the Lord performed signs and wonders and rescued them with an outstretched arm.
Many of the rules and regulations have their root in connection with this phrase. They were to be kind to foreigners and widows, because they were once foreigners in Egypt. They were to be generous to the poor, because the they were once slaves in Egypt.
In Deut 6. Moses reminded them to be careful when blessings and prosperity comes. Their hearts could become proud and forget the source of blessings AND they were to remember that they were once slaves in Egypt. They were to answer their children when asked about all of the rules and regulations…We were once slaves in Egypt, and the Lord rescued us.
On this Monday Mantra, may you be blessed to remember Jesus’ rescue from your old life. When we forget God’s lovingkindness to save us and deliver us from our own sinfulness, we can become judgmental, hypocritical, or greedy. It happens slowly. We forget the helplessness, the hopelessness, and the hatefulness which existed in our lives. Got my pastoral “h’s” lined up.
How do you properly remember without becoming self deprecating?
Remain thankful and grateful to God for saving you. The key – He who is forgiven much loves much. Can you articulate how the Lord has forgiven you?
God is not pleased with you telling him how awful and sinful you were. Rather, it is appropriate to remember His love for you. He sought you when there was nothing good dwelling within you. He chose you to be an object of His affection. While you were a sinner God demonstrated His love for you by offering Jesus as a sacrifice on your behalf.
Remembering God’s love toward you, helps you love others with the same expression of kindness and grace. How would you personalize the phrase “not forgetting the Lord who brought you out of Egypt and the land of slavery?
May you be blessed in remembering His great love and compassion over you.
Blessings Love y’all
It was again a true blessing to stand and read God’s Word aloud in the Bible Reading Marathon. We were in Exodus and Leviticus. I used to get bogged down with all the details, rules, and laws laid down by God in these books. I know now that it was God’s love for His people who needed to be led as “little children” because He knew they did not know how to care for themselves or to properly worship Him. Our God is a God of detail, and I was reminded once again that He is intimately interested in every detail of our life. Praise be to Him!