Today's Reading: Hosea 8 & 9
We are exhorted a total of 169 times in the Bible to "remember" or "do not forget" our Maker. The
frequency of these words suggests that God wants us to remember Him and His
works. He wants us to remember His promises, His commandments, and His love for
us. He also wants us to remember the lessons of the past, so that we do not
repeat the same mistakes.
In
Hosea 8:14, we witness the tragic reality of God's chosen people, Israel,
forgetting their Maker. Israel, God’s
chosen and blessed people had forgotten God and all that He had done for them.
Despite the repeated directives and admonitions to remember the Lord and follow
His ways, they turned to false gods and strayed from the ancient paths.
Israel's
forgetfulness of their Maker can be attributed to several factors:
disobedience, idolatry, worldly influence, neglect of God’s word, pride and
self-sufficiency, rejection of the prophetic messages, persecution, adversity,
and their failure to pass down faith and a vibrant relationship with God to
successive generations.
All
of these factors resulted in a gradual erosion of spiritual values, leading to
forgetfulness of God's significance in their lives. Ultimately, Israel forgot
their Maker altogether. This forgetfulness led to stumbling and wandering in
the wrong direction.
Tragically,
Israel's forgetfulness of God broke the covenant relationship they had with
Him. They strayed from the covenant's terms, abandoning the divine protection,
blessings, and guidance that came with their obedience to God. These outcomes
serve as a solemn reminder of the importance of remembering and honoring our
Maker, for forgetting Him can lead to grave spiritual and personal
consequences.
As
followers of Christ, we must be vigilant and diligent to avoid falling into
this same form of forgetfulness. To avoid forgetting our Maker, we must engage with Him daily. Spend time in daily prayer and in God’s word, participate in a faith community,
continually seek God’s will, practice gratitude, and maintain humility and
dependence on Him. And always, "Remember your Creator in the days of your
youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
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