Sunday, April 03, 2011
Remember God's Great Grace Work
I've been plowing through Deuteronomy in my daily Bible reading lately. Today I read from Deuteronomy 23-25. How many times in these passages does Moses remind the Israelites to, "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord redeemed you from your slavery" (24:18)?
As a pastor, I often counsel people to not dwell on the past, but it is clear that God doesn't want Israel to forget theirs. So why is God so emphatic? I believe that our tendency is to forget where we came from because we are so busy running from our past. Another reason may have to do with my forward momentum. I can have serious tunnel vision in my pursuit of plans and goals (and there are many times that others suffer because of it).
Our past is a touchstone of God's grace and goodness. I love to sing of His redemptive work! In the rush of my life and ministry, I need a continual reminder of what God has done for me. We must remember that His work in our lives becomes the benchmark for how we are supposed to treat other people. (Check out Jesus' instruction in Luke 10:25-27 for a great illustration of this!) We must not forget that WE are part of His redemptive work in the lives of others!
God's admonition to Israel applies to each of us. Why not take a little time today to reflect on God's great "grace" work in your life? Spend a few minutes in reflection and consider how He has delivered you from slavery into the promised land of freedom. How does His work in your life affect how you treat others today? Allow me to paraphrase the instruction again: "When you get to where you're going, don't forget where you came from!"
Our past is a touchstone of God's grace and goodness. I love to sing of His redemptive work! In the rush of my life and ministry, I need a continual reminder of what God has done for me. We must remember that His work in our lives becomes the benchmark for how we are supposed to treat other people. (Check out Jesus' instruction in Luke 10:25-27 for a great illustration of this!) We must not forget that WE are part of His redemptive work in the lives of others!
God's admonition to Israel applies to each of us. Why not take a little time today to reflect on God's great "grace" work in your life? Spend a few minutes in reflection and consider how He has delivered you from slavery into the promised land of freedom. How does His work in your life affect how you treat others today? Allow me to paraphrase the instruction again: "When you get to where you're going, don't forget where you came from!"
Labels: grace, past, redemption, remember, slavery
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This is a topic my husband and I both reflect on alot and I am so blessed to have a husband who is strong in his faith and we give God all the praise and glory for the work he has done in our lives, both as a couple and also before we met. We don't forget the past because it has shapaed and molded us to be who we are and we also know it prepared us for marriage to each other as God brought us together for His purpose! Even though there have been some difficult times and we didn't understand why things were happening they way they were, we realized later it was all in God's plan for us whether to break a prideful spirit, or to learn how to have a forgiving heart, there are many experiences we can look back on and see God's hand in it all!
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