From Dory to Discipleship

My son is a really bright kid. I'm incredibly proud of him, but something happens when a child hits adolescence they just lose their minds in moments. The junior high brain is a bit like the Bermuda Triangle, information goes in but nothing ever comes out. The new levels of responsibility, the hormonal adjustments, the tension between growing up and being a kid all collide to make growing up hard to do. So many active changes intellectually, physically, and emotionally are hard on a kid trying to navigate the junior high years. We've seen this to be true in my son's life as well. Like I said before he's really bright, especially when it comes to math. He has always been that way, always the highest scores in his class when it comes to math and sciences. He recently came in 3rd place in the science fair at school.

But his worst grade this semester was his math score. Do you want to know why? Homework. Remember what Is said about responsibility? The teacher gives math homework throughout the week and it is due to be turned in all at once on Friday. So after seeing several 0's I asked my son about it. When we reached the bottom of it, we found out he was doing the assignments but forgetting to turn them in. It was Friday and, like most of us, his brain was fried from the week and he would just forget to turn it in.

Forgetfulness is just confined to junior high students is it? It's the bane of all of our existence. Most days I feel like the character Dory from Pixar's "Finding Nemo." We walk around muttering "P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney" don't we? Like Dory, some of us suffer from memory loss, and some of us enjoy it, but whatever the case, all of us tend to be forgetful. Most of our forgetfulness is rather innocuous, but when it comes to our relationship with God, forgetfulness is dangerous. It's one of the enemies greater tools against us. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "the devil doesn't fill us with hatred for God, but with forgetfulness of God." In Deuteronomy 3 & 4, we find Moses, the revered leader of the Israelite nation, pleading with His final breathe as it were to not forget the Lord and all that He has done for them, and he gives them a very interesting way of remembering.

Highlight:

'“Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren. ' Deuteronomy 4:9

Explain:

In Deuteronomy 3 & 4, Moses is preparing Joshua and all Israel to enter their destiny, to fulfill the promise made to Abraham nearly 500 years ago now, namely to give Him a land and make of him a great nation. The reason for all of this is in Deuteronomy 4:7 which reads, “for what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to Him?” God means to demonstrate through this people who He is. That was spoken first to Moses in Exodus 6:3 that He was indeed the Lord. He then reiterates that truth in 4:35 which reads, “You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides HIm.” Moses means for these people to understand exactly what is going on here. God is fulfilling a promise with power and wonder to demonstrate to the world by fulfilling this promise exactly who He is. He is smart enough to think it up, crafty enough to back Himself into a corner, and powerful enough to accomplish it. Even when their fathers forfeited their opportunity through their unbelief of realizing that plan, God would complete it through their children. This gave Moses and Joshua supreme confidence that God would indeed fight for them. (Deuteronomy 3:22)

With all that as the backdrop Moses sounds an incredibly important warning. He pleads with them not to forget all that God had done for them. He warns them that their prosperity and success would make them forgetful of all the things God had done and consequently they would idols and worship them. Instead He encourages them to be on their guard and be diligent to not forget all that God had done for them so that they don’t forget or slip their mind. Then He tells them something to help them remember, He tells them to repeat it to their children. He instructs them to disciple their kids, but it is in the context of remembering it themselves. Moses wants them to do this as much for them as He does for their kids. It is as much to help the parents remember as it is to help the kids learn.

Apply:

What if the same is true for us. When God allows success in our lives and prosperity we tend to forget how dependent we are on God and His faithfulness to us. We don’t have to gather manna anymore, the daily reminder that we are dependent on God. We start to feel self-sufficient, our dependency on God and His spirit begins to wane and we start to lapse into forgetfulness. This is why Moses instructs us to be on guard against this. We don’t intuitively remember, instead we instinctively forget. Moses encourages us to stir up that remembrance, we have to be intentional to remember how God has been faithful to us by redeeming us from our slaver like He did for Israel, how He has led us like He did Israel with the cloud by day and the fire by night, how He has provided for us like He did for Israel in the manna and the rock, how He has protected us like He did for Israel at the Red Sea. These lessons have to be intentionally remembered. And what formula does He give for this to be remembered, none other than discipleship. When we disciple others we remember ourselves the faithfulness and provision and power and protection of God. We remember how dependent we are on it. If we don’t do that, we will inevitably forget and in so doing construct idols in place of the God we forgot. These idols will eventually be our demise (4:27) and the only recourse of action is to, “in distress…return to the Lord your God and obey Him.” (4:30).

The comfort in all of this is that God is not like us. He is not forgetful of His promise though we will inevitably be of ours. “He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.” (4:31)

Respond:

With all that said, God help me not to forget how dependent I am on You and just how trustworthy You are to me. Help me remember the lessons You taught me in the valley, how You could provide, how You would lead, how You would protect, how You would deliver. Help me rehearse that in the ears of those I disciple as much for me as for them. Help me to do this so that I keep myself free of the idols that will bring my destruction. Thank You that You are a compassionate God that doesn’t forget the promises you made to me, when I forget the promises I made to You