Philip Dampier's Blog

Remembering the Past

What God did for Israel was abundantly more than He did for any ancient people. A brief reading of the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to Canaan will leave one impressed at the gracious goodness of God. God had them set up a system of feasts and special days so that they could remember all that he had done for them up to that moment. In spite of these constant reminders of the blessings from God they forgot. They forgot His leading, His feeding, His healing, His saving. They looked at themselves.

Let’s look at Hosea 13:6 “…but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.” Nehemiah in the ninth chapter of his book remembers all that God had done for the people of Israel. Nehemiah even included the times God forgave them for their rebellion. He ends this long list of blessings from God with a commentary on the response of the people.

Nehemiah 9:26 “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.”

What is it about we humans that we so easily forget what has been done for us yet can remember what was done to us? We are so forgetful that we confuse what was done for us for what we have done. Moses told the people that they had better remember God or they would be claiming that they did all the wonderous things themselves (Deuteronomy 8:14, 17).

Task for Today: Set up a time of remembrance so that you can consider all that God has done for you in the past. When you go to bed or when you get up would be good times. After a while the memory fades if not prodded. Remembering on a regular basis keeps the old blessings fresh in our minds. In time we will be overwhelmed with all the things God has done in our life time.