Do not forget the Lord
Do not forget the Lord
By Evangeline Unity Esaaba Folso
Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgment, and His statutes, which I command thee this day:
According to google.com, the word translated “forget” in the verse above comes from a verb in the original Hebrew that means to “stop remembering, ignore, dismiss from the mind, abandon, neglect or cease to care about” This kind of forgetting involves putting the Lord out of one’s consciousness.
It is easy to forget about the Lord in good times because everything runs smoothly. However, in times of trouble, we get closer to the Lord because we are under pressure. How can we prevent ourselves from forgetting about the Lord? By
Focusing on God always
Isaiah 26:3
- Not taking His blessings for granted
Proverbs 30:7-9
- Remembering that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord
James 1:17
- By obeying His commands
Deuteronomy 28:1
- Thanking Him for every blessing
1 Thessalonians 5:18
- Focusing on God always
Isaiah 26:3
Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusted in thee.
As humans when we do not want to forget about something we put reminders in places we always go!
- For instance a mother will put the menu for the week on the refrigerator which everybody opens several times a day. So everyone prepares the mind. Cheap and difficult to eat food like (Green Plantain and beans stew (Ampesi) could be interspersed with Jollof and Chicken or ripe plantain and beans that everyone loves
- At school or the workplace, important information is put on the notice board or internet
- Memory verses that are important an good to maintain can be posted on top of your bad or dressing mirror
These are all examples of how, humans try to focus on activities and events in a similar way we can keep our focus on God by writing memory verses on Post-it notepads and sticking it on top of our bed at home or on our table at work where we can see the verses and focus on God by reading it frequently.
The verse above, says when you focus on God, He keeps you in perfect peace. That is free from worry and anxiety because He has promised to do so in His word.
Not taking His blessings for granted
Proverbs 30:7-9
Two things have 1 required of thee:
Deny me them not before I die! Remove far from me vanity and lies! Give me neither or poverty or riches! Feed me with food covenant for me! Lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
In the passage above the author is so much concerned about his relationship with God that, he never wants to forget about Him.
He pleads with God to give him just enough to meet his needs such that he would not have too much and forget about God or have too little and defile the name of God by stealing or misusing his body which is the temple of God.
It is important that all children of God have this attitude.
Remembering that every good and perfect gift comes from God
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning
What does the bible mean by every good and perfect gift comes from above? First of all it means there are some gifts that are not good or perfect.
A good and perfect gift!
- A good gift has the right qualities and is not of a high standard
- A perfect gift has no faults or defects
- A gift is good and perfect if it comes with no strings attached or demands attached.
Proverbs 10:22 says
The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it.
Another translation says
The Lord’s blessing makes a person rich, and no trouble is added to it.
So let us not forget about God because every good and perfect gift that comes our way is a reminder that He is at work in our lives.
By Obeying His Commands
Deuteronomy 28:1
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all His commandments, which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.
One prominent way of showing that God is always on your mind or way you can prevent yourself from forgetting about God is to study His word, know His commandments and apply them to your life or obey them. When you study the word of God well enough, you always tend to think about what the bible says about everything before taking an action.
For example when you are sick you can turn to James 5:14
It says:
Is any sick among you?
What should you do?
Call the elders to pray and anoint the sick with oil if you want to choose a wife as a young man turn to
Proverbs 31:10 – 30
Especially verse 30
Which advises young men not to look at beauty only. They should consider fear of the Lord above beauty.
Thanking God for every blessing
1 Thessalonians 5:18
In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you.
The verse above emphasizes that God values a thankful or grateful heart. No matter what happens to you, learn to thank God for His blessings in good
tsaimes and thank Him for your victory or success in challenging times.
Thanksgiving leads you into God’s presence (Psalm 100:4) and in god’s presence, there is fullness of joy. (Psalm 16:11)
Reference
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