Remembering God

           I heard a sermon at my church a few weeks ago entitled 'Lest we Forget'. The message about not forgetting God when things appear to be going well really got me to thinking; and I began to wonder if I'd forgotten about God.
           As people it's easy to grow complacent and forget the things God has done for us, and the places He has brought us out of. Many times we inadvertently forget God, and we think that by attending church or Bible study that we are still putting God first and foremost in our lives. While it is a great thing to attend church and Bible study groups, these things often replace our daily relationship with God. God doesn't just want all of our attention, and focus to be on Him on just one or two days a week; He wants us to worship and spend time with Him everday!
            How great is our God, and how much does He loves us that He wants us, us, yes us dirty, low down sinners to spend time with Him in all His righteousness and glory. It is truly amazing when you think about it, yet often times we don't think about it at all. We get too caught up in our busy lives, and after Sunday we don't even think about God until the next Sunday rolls around. Oh sure we may pray to Him during the week, but what do those prayers mostly consist of, probably something along these lines, "Father please help me through this day, its been so stressful and I have a test tomorrow, please help me to pass it. Amen." or "Father give me the strength to get up and go to work/ and or school today. Amen" or even "Father give me the strength to get up and go to church today so that I can praise and worship you. Amen.". Most of our prayers consist of asking God to do something for us, instead of praising Him for what He has already done for us! While asking God to help us is not a bad thing, in fact its a great thing!, our one on one time with Him shouldn't solely consist of us asking Him for something. God doesn't want us to spend time with Him because of what He is capable of doing for us, He wants us to love Him because of who He is and what He has done for us. We have so many reasons to thank and praise God everyday, the very first thing we can thank Him for is for making us!
                 It's so easy to forget about God, thats why in Deuteronomy 6:12 it says "Beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.", and in Deut. 8:14,17&18 it says, "Be careful that your heart doesn't become proud and you forget the Lord your God... You may say to yourself "My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me." but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth..." The Israelites needed to constantly be reminded not to forget the Lord, just as we need to be reminded today. Some of us become proud and take the credit of our wealth or any semblance of prosperity like it says in verses 14, 17, and 18; while some of us just forget out of complacency. For example, this computer that I'm typing on right now, and the internet that I am using right now to type this was not in my possession a year ago. Thats right 365 days ago I had no computer and no internet connection! I have had this computer and internet for about 6 or 7 months now, and I remember when I got it I was so thankful and I praised the Lord for them both everyday; now I'm so used to having them that I don't even think to stop and praise God for them. Sad right? These things have become such a common part of my life that it feels like I've always had them, and now I don't stop to just praise God that I don't have to go to the library anymore to use their computer and wifi, now I can do it from the comfort of my own home!; but that's only because of the One that provided it for me. At first you will have to consciously choose to thank and praise God as you begin to reset your mind, then once your mind is reset to just being thankful and grateful to God that you know and have Him in your life it will become second nature and you won't even fret about what God can and will do for you in the future you'll just be glad to have Him in your life!
                    So lets remember our God, the One that sent down His only son to die for us so that through Him we can be spared and saved! Lets not just spend our quality time with Him asking Him to do things for us, instead lets thank Him, love Him, praise Him, and learn more about Him through reading His word.
                                                 -Alexandra