Friday, January 15, 2016

Forgetting God

“When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” (Hosea 13:6 NIV)

There is an old saying, “There are no atheists in foxholes,” that gets to the heart of what the Lord is saying through the prophet Hosea. When life takes a terrible turn, when the woes of this world come crashing down on us, it is then we tend to cry out to God, but in the midst of life going our way and our needs being satisfied, this is when we tend to make Him an afterthought.  

Pride is an insidious sin of which we are often unaware.  But what else can explain this tendency to think we don’t need God, are not dependent on Him, when life is going well for us?  Is it not the sense that we have earned the good things coming our way or that somehow we are entitled to them that leads us to forget God when life is good?

Through Hosea, the Lord is recalling how He provided for the needs of the Israelites to the point they were satisfied with life.  But that did not lead them to appreciate Him or give thanks to Him.  Rather, it led those who were religiously devoted to think they  deserved it because they were “God’s people,” and those who were not to think that somehow the idols they had created with their own hands were responsible for life going so well for them.

Our pride shows, as did theirs, when we do not recognize all good things come from God. (I Timothy 6:17) In fact, when things are going great for us, rather than forgetting about the Lord, we should be filled with praise and thanksgiving.  But as the Scriptures show over and over again, this is difficult for us.  Our bent is to get lax in our appreciation for the Lord when life is going good.  So what are we to do?

Echoing the words of the Apostle Paul, we must cultivate an attitude of thankfulness. (I Thessalonians 5:18) And to do that, it must be intentional and daily.  

So today, think about how the Lord has blessed you and then give thanks for those blessings.  And do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.  For the truth is, when we take the time to think about all that we have in life and recognize from Whom they come, we cannot possibly forget the Lord.  Instead, our lives will be filled with thanksgiving toward Him.

© Jim Musser 2016

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