Today we reflect on the many men and women who sacrificed their life for our freedom, but we also have to remember what God has done for us.

View Full Service

Do we know what sacrifice is? Sacrifice is giving up oneself for the good of another.

God is our greatest Friend and Ally, but He’s also our Judge. God will not always put up with our deviance and defiance. When God decides that enough is enough, we will suffer the consequences of our actions.

Moses, the meekest man of all the earth, is one of the most prominent heroes of our faith, and he addresses the people of Israel in three sermons within Deuteronomy.

1. In his first teaching, Moses recounts the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the miracles God provided His people, and the revelation of His laws.
2. In the second sermon, Moses reminds the Israelites of the need to hear God’s voice and obey His mandates.
3. In his third teaching, Moses offers the assurance that even when Israel fails their sincere repentance will restore their relationship with God.

Hebrews 9:22
And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Deuteronomy 6:10-1
¹⁰ “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, ¹¹ houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full— ¹² then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Psalm 103:2
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:

Psalm 9:17
^{The wicked shall be turned into hell,
And all the nations that forget God.}

Deuteronomy 8: 11-17
¹¹ “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, ¹² lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ¹⁴ when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; ¹⁵ who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— ¹⁷ then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

Remembering is the theme that is interwoven throughout the book of Deuteronomy. It seems strange that one of the man’s most difficult challenges, memorializing, becomes the focal point for the entire Book of Deuteronomy. Throughout its revelation, Moses is constantly exhorting the Israelites to remember what the Lord did for them in the wilderness and what He required of them as they entered the Promised Land. Moses encourages God’s people not to forget the Lord’s redemption.

Deuteronomy 6:12
then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

We must remember:

Just like the Israelites, we must remember the Lord Jesus and His mercy when He heard our cry and forgave our sins. We mustn’t forget the beauty of our salvation and remember that we were saved from sin’s bondage that made us hostages to our past.

We must remember that our salvation was for the purpose for which we were created. We have a divine reason for being here.

We are often counseled to forget our past so we can move forward and that is very true; however, we must remember what we were delivered from- lest we forget the power of our deliverance. We were held captive by the tyranny of sin and the devil. We were destined for oppression and defeat.

We must remember what God has done on our behalf, not forgetting His goodness, mercy, and unconditional love. He sent His son into the world to save sinners.

We must remember that we who were fatally flawed, estranged from God, hopeless, and spiritually blind were given the opportunity to find freedom, know God, and serve Him. We must remember our place in His family was given to us through the death of His son, Jesus. We have become one with Him through the power of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Moses cautions the Israelites not to forget God’s Words so to avoid becoming disobedient and taking His promises for granted.

Deuteronomy 4:23
Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you.

 

pub 6/5/22