“YOU SHALL REMEMBER!”

 Deuteronomy 8:1-3                    (ESV)

REMEMBER the LORD Your GOD

“[1] “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. [2] And “YOU SHALL REMEMBER” THE WHOLE WAY that the LORD your GOD has led you these FORTY YEARS in the wilderness, that HE MIGHT HUMBLE YOU, testing you TO KNOW what was in your heart, whether you would keep HIS commandments or not. [3] And HE HUMBLED YOU and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that HE might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

SEVENTEEN YEARS is a long time ago, but seventeen years ago this morning I awoke having a “massive brain hemorrhage” and walked in the “valley of the shadow of death” for longer than I ever thought I would!  It is difficult to memorialize the he past the further away from it you get, but some memories are vivid and you can’t shake them away from your mind.

The Children of Israel weren’t given the option of forgetting the exodus from Egyptian captivity.  In Exodus 8:2 THE LORD told them “”YOU SHALL REMEMBER” THE WHOLE WAY that the LORD your GOD has led you the FORTY YEARS in the wilderness, that HE MIGHT HUMBLE YOU, testing you TO KNOW what was in your heart, whether you would keep HIS commandments or not”!!!  

From my experience, it wasn’t difficult to forget SEVENTEEN YEARS ago!  The MEMORIES of the monumental escapade are as vivid as they can be.  But one thing that “the enemy” attempts to make me forget is that ALMIGHTY GOD was the reason why I survived what I did?  As I type my thoughts at 4:30 this morning, “YOU SHALL REMEMBER” isn’t difficult for me to comprehend!!!  When you experience the path of GOD HUMBLING you, it leaves you with an indelible memory of how insignificant we are before a HOLY GOD, and how magnificent HE is to live inside of my heart!!!

“YOU SHALL REMEMBER” wasn’t an option for the Children of Israel, and it isn’t for me either!  I PRAISE GOD that HE brought me through “the valley of the shadow of death” and is STILL allowing me to live for HIM!  When you are “delivered” by the HAND of ALMIGHTY GOD, “YOU SHALL REMEMBER” is a command that is a joy to experience , even SEVENTEEN YEARS LATER!!!