When All The Forget-Me-Nots Pass Away Remember This One
“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” (Deuteronomy 4:9)
This admonition was given by God through Moses as the children of Israel were preparing finally to enter God’s Promised Land.
God had done mighty things for them–delivering them from slavery in Egypt, parting the Red Sea for them, feeding them for forty years with water from a great rock and daily bread from heaven–and it was important for them to teach their descendants, “lest you forget the things which thine eyes have seen.”
It was especially vital not to forget the actual words of God. “You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it” (Deuteronomy 4:2). The writer of Psalm 119 (the longest chapter in the Bible) stressed no less than seven times how important it was not to forget the words of God.
“I will not forget your word.” (v. 16)
“Yet do I not forget your statutes.” (v. 83)
“I will never forget your precepts.” (vv. 93, 141)
“I do not forget your law.” (vv. 109, 153)
“For I do not forget your commandments.” (v. 176)
America has seen God do marvelous things. It was founded by a small band of Christians, and in a short span of history has become the greatest nation in the world. Yet we also seem about to forget, as Israel once did.
We would do well to rehearse again and again the poignant words of Rudyard Kipling, in words written over a hundred years ago:
“Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, lest we forget, lest we forget.”
Remember America in Your Prayers as it is entering into a time of Orwellian crisis where pretense has replaced honesty. We need more honest Abes and Washingtons and Trumans. When honesty is no longer sacred than our whole political and judicial system is insecure.
A good character is the best tombstone. When all the forget-me-nots are withered away, when all the gifts and cards have disappeared like daisies in the wind; it is character and integrity not carved into marble, but carved in the hearts of others that will outlive them all.
That’s Something To Pray About!
Pastor Bryant