Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 

- Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Our understanding of God provides the basis for our worldview and the foundation for our response to everything we experience in this life. We experience joy, happiness, love, fear, worry, suffering, pain and grief, and our understanding of God provides the basis for our reaction to each of our experiences. Paul says he is content in every situation. He is content with little and with plenty because of his relationship with Christ (see Philippians 4:11-13). He also says that for him “living is Christ and dying is gain” (Philippians 1:21). He explains that he is torn between whether to desire life on earth where he is able to serve Christ Jesus, or death where he will join Christ in heavenly glory, which would be far better (see Philippians 1:22-23). Paul’s intimate relationship with Christ provided the basis for his worldview and his response to every situation.  

Like Paul, we each experience God’s glory and the ugliness and chaos of the world, but unlike Paul, I have to frequently remind myself who God is. As I interact out in the world I need to constantly remind myself to focus on God because He really is here with us, He is who He says He is and His promises are true. But if I am not careful, I lose focus and as I do so I tend to allow the chaos of the world around me to influence me more than I should. But when I focus on God, and His glory, and His love and light and life, the matters of this world seem far less significant. Because He is bigger in every way than anything and everything that I face or will ever face. And “living is Christ and dying is gain.”

If our understanding of God, our relationship with God is the foundation for our interaction with the world around us, we must be vigilant to keep God in the front of our consciousness. If we forget Him while we are out in the world, we will lose our foundation, we will be tossed about like a boat in a storm, or like Peter, we will be sifted (see Luke 22:31). This is why God urges us to talk about His holy word all the time, recite His words, teach our children His words, write them on our hands and foreheads and door frames. God urges us to keep His holy word in the forefront of our minds all the time. We cannot forget, but we tend to forget.

As the Israelites camp on the Jordan River and prepare to enter the land of milk and honey, God reminds them of what Jesus refers to as the Greatest Commandment. God says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength, and with all your might.” He follows this directive by telling His people to keep His words in the front of their minds, and immediately after saying that, God warns them to be careful not to forget His words and not to forget Him. God says that when they enter the land of milk and honey, and they are surrounded by abundance, and they have eaten their fill and they are satisfied, and they are surrounded by unholy influences, they may begin thinking that they have gained abundance by their own doing and forget God’s holy word and forget God (see Deuteronomy 6:10-15).

We are at great risk of falling into the same trap. We live in the land of milk and honey. We have abundance, we eat our fill and we are surrounded by unholy influences. We are at great risk of falling into the trap of thinking we have gained abundance by our own effort, of forgetting God’s holy word, of forgetting God. As God counseled His people while they camped on the Jordan River, we must vigilantly keep God and His holy word in the forefront of our minds all the time.  

May you continue knowing God, trusting God and loving God with all your heart, soul and strength – with everything you have to offer.