REMEMBER
Joshua 8:34 And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:
Do you remember?
I was talking with my young teenage daughter the other day about the pledge of allegiance. It seems that because “under God” is in the pledge, the school system would rather stop saying the pledge, altogether, than to offend a minority of students and parents.
Suppose you were to ask a senior in High School, “Do you remember when there was prayer in school?” He’d look at you like you’d lost your marbles and probably say some unkind word or two. We have more than one generation which “remembers not” the opening of class with the pledge AND a prayer. Will the next generation of Americans “remember not” even the pledge?
Do you remember when the police would catch a child in a minor criminal act and turn over the offender to their parents? The policeman was confident the parents would deal effectively with such wonton behavior. Have you asked a policeman lately the last time he delivered a child to parents for discipline? Again, you’d get a rude response. Where has the parent’s authority gone? Perhaps the authority disappeared when families trusted in man’s wisdom rather than God’s commandments. Why shouldn’t a policeman deliver a child to a governing judge when parents ignore the wisdom of God’s Word in the home? There is at least one generation of children receiving “correction” from the state rather than their parents. This would mean this generation and their parents “remembered not” the source and author of the Law.
What has happened to the refuge of churches? Do you remember the day when the door of a church was left unlocked! The homeless, what few there were, if not cared for at a stranger’s home could always depend on shelter in God’s house. What is our thinking? Is it God’s house or not? Don’t you think God can protect His own house? Or, maybe the lights are on, the banner lit, the people in attendance, but the Spirit of God isn’t present or is withdrawn? Who do we think built the foundation of the church to begin with? Oh, I know the world is a wicked place, but I think that wickedness in the world is like God in His unchanging, it will always be as long as the world be. So, if wickedness is a constant in this world, and God changes not, why are churches locked dark, and cold? If you were to ask a pastor or congregation today if they’d leave the church doors unlocked, what do you think would happen? Would they be rude? Do you think this new generation of pastors and church goers “remember not” the power and security which is God? “Oh, but sir, the church has offices, computers, and a new rug.” Well, maybe the church shouldn’t. I remember when churches were churches and offices were offices. But, perhaps the government should provide the shelter, after all doesn’t the government know best?
Our nation’s “remembered not” litany of deeds, acts, and character outweigh the paltry account of our remembrance. How long do you think God will continue to remember we are “but flesh”?
Psalms 78:37-39 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
Do you know what happened to Israel? They “remembered not” the Lord their God and were scattered to the four corners of the Earth. Today, the memory of “remembered not” and its consequence burns through their new-found patriotism and zeal. Will Israel remain a nation that remembers?
What of the Gentiles? What of America? Israel is known for loving God and inviting the world to love God in the Promised Land. America is known as the land of promise, cherishing God, and spreading the Gospel of Christ into the world.
Do we remember our unwritten charter? The foundation of our nation like many churches was founded on the Bible and its principles. Freedom of belief was and is guaranteed in biblical doctrine. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve”, Joshua 24:15. Can freedom of belief be any clearer?
With freedom comes responsibility. If this nation continues to choose “remember not” the Lord our God, then the nation must be prepared to suffer the consequence when God “remembers not” America.
Lamentations 2:1 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!
If God can do such things to Israel, the “apple” of His eye, where does America stand? Have you ever wondered how it would be to live in a “third world” country? If we continue on our present path in this nation, “third world” would be too good for us.
It is our responsibility to remember. We must teach our children to remember. “When I was a kid…”, should be a required subject in every home and in every school.
As a nation, we must get back to the basics of the America our father’s remembered, or at best, become only a memory, at worst, “remembered not”.
Do you remember?
