What God Doesn't Want Me To Forget


THE CHRISTMAS GIRL by sAnDrAfoto



What God Doesn't Want Me To Forget
Max Lucado

READ Psalm 103

SITUATION David urged everyone to praise God. He told of God's faithfulness and praised him.

OBSERVATION Abraham Lincoln once listened to the pleas of the mother of a solider who'd been sentenced to hang for treason. She begged the President to grant a pardon. Lincoln agreed. Yet, he's reported to have left the lady with the following words: "Still, I wish we could teach him a lesson, I wish we could give him just a little bit of hangin."

I think I know what the old rail splitter had in mind. Yesterday, I got a little bit of hangin.'

We were having Sunday lunch at the home of a fellow missionary family. It was after the meal . . . Their three-year-old daughter Beth Ann was playing with our two year old Jenna in the front yard. All of a sudden Beth Ann rushed in with a look of panic on her face. 'Jenna is in the pool!'

Paul was the first to arrive at the poolside . . . (and) lifted her up out of the water to the extended hands of her mother. Jenna was simultaneously choking, crying, and coughing. She vomited a bellyful of water. I held her as she cried. Denalyn began to weep. I began to sweat.

For the rest of the day I couldn't hold her enough, nor could we thank Beth Ann enough. . . .I still can't thank God enough.

It was a little bit of hangin' . . . Because of it, I came face to face with one of the undergrounds' sly est agents ---the agent of familiarity . . . .

To say that this agent of familiarity breeds contempt is to let him off easy. Contempt is just one of his offspring. He also sires broken hearts, and an insatiable desire for more. . . . He won't take your children, he'll just make you too busy to notice them. His whispers to procrastinate are seductive. There is always next summer to coach the team, next month to go to the lake, and next week to teach Johnny how to pray. He'll make you forget that the faces around your table will soon be at tables of their own. Hence, books will go unread, games will go unplayed, hearts will go unnurtured, and opportunity will go ignored. All because the poison of the ordinary had deadened your senses to the magic of the moment . . . .

On a shelf above my desk is a picture of two little girls. They're holding hands and standing in front of a swimming pool, the same pool from which the younger of the two had been pulled only minutes before. I put the picture where I can see it daily so I would remember what God doesn't want me to forget.

And you can bet this time I'm going to remember. I don't want any more hangin'. Not ever a little bit. (From God Came Near by Max Lucado)

APPLICATION Make Psalm 103 your prayer. Pray this prayer throughout the day. Maintain an attitude of praise in all your activities.

EXPLORATION Cautions About Forgetting God -- Deuteronomy 4:9; 6:10-12; Psalm 9:17; 50:22; Isaiah 17:10; 51:13; Jeremiah 3:21.

The Devotional Bible - Experiencing the Heart of Jesus; Max Lucado General Editor, Thomas Nelson Publishers, New Century Version.


Christmas Makes Me Cry- Mandisa and Matthew West


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