Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today.    Deuteronomy 8:11 NKJV

In my Bible, Deuteronomy chapter 8 is titled, Remember the Lord your God. Verse 1 says, “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers.”

These instructions are directed at the Israelites who have been wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years while attempting to make what should have been about a two-week journey. Verse 2 goes on to tell them that the reason it has taken them 40 years is because the Lord was testing them to see if they would humble themselves and keep His commandments. If you have read much of the Old Testament, you know that they spend a lot more time grumbling and complaining than they did humbling themselves and trusting the Lord and obeying His commands.

They are being warned not to forget all the Lord has done for them.

What about us today? Many of us are in a good place. In today’s world, if you have a roof over your head and food to eat, you are doing well. But so many of us tend to forget why we have what we have. We tend to forget that we would not have anything were it not for the Lord’s blessing on our lives.

Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” We tend to forget that God gave us everything we have. He made us who we are. Without Him we are nothing and we have nothing and we can do nothing.

Yet we live our lives and forget about God. We leave Him out of many aspects of our lives. Maybe we leave Him out because we are doing things He doesn’t approve of but remember we are not hiding our sin from Him because He sees all and He knows all.

If we are smart, we live each day in His presence with faith in Him and obedience to Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make our crooked paths straight.

Sadly, we sometimes even leave the Lord out of our worship services. We go to church out of obligation and we forget why we are there. It’s not about checking something off of your Sunday to-do list, it’s about loving and worshiping and praising the Lord. It’s about fellowshipping with like-minded believers. It’s about loving the Lord with all your heart and hungering and thirsting to learn more about His word.

And be very careful if you go to a church where the Lord is being left out, many churches are inwardly focused and that’s a whole other blog. There are false teachers out there that teach self-satisfaction and that’s not what a worship service is about. It should be all about loving the Lord and entering into a close relationship with Him.

Are you leaving the Lord out? Take a minute to think about your typical day. How do you start it? Do you start it in prayer and Bible study even if it’s just a short devotional? Do you put God first when you make a decision no matter how big or how small? Do you honor Him in the way you talk and the way you treat others?

Romans 1:20-25 warns us of the dangers of leaving the Lord out of our lives. If we reject the Lord long enough, He will reject us and give us over to our own evil desires. And believe me, when that roll is called up yonder, you don’t want to be left out.

Look at the blessings in your life. Take time to thank God for them. Make Him a part of all that you do. You won’t be sorry.

Have a great day!