“LEST WE FORGET!”

 Deuteronomy 4:5-9.                      (ESV)

“5 See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my GOD commanded me, that YOU SHOULD DO THEM IN THE LAND YOU ARE ENTERING TO TAKE possession of it.

6 KEEP THEM AND DO THEM, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'

7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our GOD .is to us, whenever we call upon him?

8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

9 "Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, “LEST YOU FORGET” THE THINGS YOUR EYES HAVE SEEN , and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. MAKE THEM KNOWN TO YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN-“. 

Failure to keep the pain our past experiences in our memory banks is foolish.  Why would you go back to something that had caused you pain and heartache?  Yet I have done it repeatedly in my life, and a few times knowing that pain would be a byproduct of my actions!  GOD’S WORD is given “as a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalms 119:105), yet sometimes we are so caught up in the busyness of life that we FORGET lessons learned!  

GOD is telling us that “I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my GOD commanded me, that YOU SHOULD DO THEM IN THE LAND YOU ARE ENTERING TO TAKE possession of it,  KEEP THEM AND DO THEM, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding...”.  If we continue to be on the spinning top of “this world”, living in the vortex of the evil one, what do we expect to reap AT HARVEST TIME?   

Learning from our mistakes is part growing up.  Our WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING comes from listening to the SPIRIT OF GOD, especially after we have made bad choices.  Seeing people who are making WISE DECISIONS have usually been through some painful things in their lives.  To ignore the lessons of the past is almost like we are asking to experience more of the same results.  We can LEARN from our past, or we can wallow in the same pig sty (Luke 15:11-32) that we are in!

YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN can learn from our mistakes, providing they are aware of them.  Do you prefer they go through similar pain and heartache that you have experienced?  Then why don’t we alert them that we have already made “errors” and the consequences were not enjoyable?  We need to REMEMBER our past and the pains we brought upon ourselves!  “LEST WE FORGET” is a warning that we need to heed!