Key events in today’s reading:

• The Command to Leave Horeb (Deuteronomy 1:1-8)
• Moses Forbidden to Cross the Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:21-29)
• The Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5)
• The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-8)

Read: Numbers 32:20 – Deuteronomy 7:26

Verse that stood out: Be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them – Deuteronomy 4:9.

Over and over again in the first few chapters of Deuteronomy, the prophet Moses encourages the people to “not forget” the things God has done for them and the commands he has given them. Moses has genuine concerns because he has witnessed first hand the Hebrew children’s propensity for forgetfulness. Over and over again, the Hebrews’ struggle to remember God led to all sorts of trouble.

You’d think the people who witnessed the crossing of the Red Sea wouldn’t need reminders of God’s power and care, but they did. If we’re honest, so do we. It’s easy to take a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately attitude with God. Remembering God’s care in the past helps us to persevere through today’s trials. Remembering yesterday’s provision helps us persevere until God provides again.

Remembering God’s provision in the past also helps us remember the greatest truth. There is one constant that outlasts our forgetfulness, God’s mercy. No matter how great our sin, God’s mercy is greater. As Moses said, “The LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers” (Deuteronomy 4:31).

We might forget God, but thank God, he doesn’t forget us!

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For tomorrow, September 12, 2020:

Cover to Cover: Deuteronomy 6:22-22:10

Key Passage: Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Verse of the Day: Deuteronomy 10:17