How Quickly We Forget

Psalm 106

The assignment begins with the instruction, "Listen for a word or phrase that says in some small way, 'I am here for you today.'" What sticks out to me is that God's people continuously turn their backs on Him.  Verse 13 says, "They soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel." Verse 20, "They exchanged their Glory..." for idols.  Verse 21, "They forgot the God who saved them." Verse 24, "They did not believe his promise." Verse 28, "They yoked themselves" to idols. Verse 33, "they rebelled." Verse 36, "they worshipped their idols."  Verse 43, "many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin."

But.........

Verse 44-45, "He took note of their distress when he heard their cry; for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented."

Whew... That's my story in a nutshell.  I sin. I turn my back on this amazing God who saves me from destruction time and time again.  I forget him.  I rebel.  I worship my idols of comfort and money and culture and being liked and shopping... I am constantly wasting away in my sin.  But he hears my cries and he loves me.  The thought shakes me to my core.  He loves me.

The definition of relent is to abandon or mitigate a harsh intention or cruel treatment; to become less severe or intense.  This is so true for me.  God sent Jesus to mitigate my death.  What's insane is that in my sin and myself, I will choose destruction every time.  Thanking God today for grace.  Without Him, I would never choose righteousness.  Thanking God for changing me to sweeten the taste of goodness. Because all too often, I think the things of this world look so good.  So many times, it seems that easiness would just be better.  You know, not having to live so tightly or have a sacrificial mind set.  The righteous things seem so hard.  What's amazing is that God knows that so he sweetens the deal.  When I'm in line with His commands, I feel a sense of peace that can only be attributed to Him.  That's not to say it's easy.  Quitting my job wasn't easy.  Not buying a bigger house or passing on the take out isn't easy.  It sucks.  Not having a new pair of designer jeans sucks.  But there's an immense peace, too. That is God.

The last portion of my study charges me to create an Ebenezer for myself.  In Hebrew, that means "stone of help."  It can be used to refer to anything spiritually significant.  In summary of today's lesson, I would say I am reminded that I am bent on rebellion, but GOD HAS A GREAT LOVE FOR ME.  To remind myself of this truth I will write this phrase on my bathroom mirror so that as I look at my rebellious self, I will also see that God's love overpowers sin!