I’m not talking about forgetting where you put your car keys.  I’m not talking about forgetting to pay a bill or send a birthday card.

I’m talking about forgetting God.

Asa was a good king*.  He was a godly king.  He confidently asked God for a miracle and he got it when his little, chariot-less army defeated a million enemy soldiers who had 500 more chariots than he did.  He called his country to repentance.  He got rid of the idols.  He even got rid of the Queen Mother – because she had made an idol.  He brought treasures back into the house of God.  These were good times.

But 25 years later, he forgot.

Twenty five years later, he gave the treasures from the house of God to another country’s leader to seal an agreement for protection.  Instead of trusting God like he did when God helped him defeat a million soldiers, he tried to do it on his own.  And six years later he died, angry at God and angry at the people who tried to remind him what God had done for him.

And it made me wonder why. 

It made me wonder why someone who trusted God for so long would suddenly make such a huge mistake.  It made me wonder why someone who had seen God’s amazing and miraculous intervention thought he could do a better job by himself this time.  Did he get complacent?  Lazy?  Prideful?  Or did he just forget?  And it made me wonder, could it happen to me? 

I think it could.  I think it could happen to me if I forget what God has already done for me.  I think it could happen to me if I forget to daily surrender my life and my heart to Him.  I think it could happen if I get complacent, lazy and prideful.

I don’t want to end up like Asa.  I don’t want to ever…forget.

(* 2 Chronicles 14-16)

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 

I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember your wonders of old.  Psalm 77:11

They did not keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His law, and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them.  Psalm 78:10-11

They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel.  Psalm 106:13