Today we are continuing our series about the importance of investing in others, especially younger generations. We’ve talked about beginning that investment by making sure our faith and relationship with God is something worth passing on to others. We’ve also talked about sharing God with others as we go about our days and surrounded ourselves with reminders of God and His Word. We’ve been looking at Deuteronomy chapter 6 and what God said about investing in the next generation in those verses. Today we are going to pick up in verses 10-13 which say:

“Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.”

While these verses contain some specifics about the Israelites and what would happen when they entered into the Promised Land, the principle and warning apply to us as well. God knows us, His creation, well. He knows that as He provides for us and blesses us, like He was about to do with the Israelites, that we have a tendency to become complacent and take things for granted.

Just like the Israelites were going into a land where they would have all sorts of good things that they did not work for, we often have blessings in our lives through no effort of our own. We don’t control where we were born or who are parents are, yet both of those things often establish aspects of our lives. God, directly or through others, often blesses us in so many ways. Sometimes we recognize those blessings, and other times we are so focused on what He hasn’t given us that we miss so many of the good things He has. Oddly enough, the more blessings we have received, the more it seems that there is a temptation to take the blessings for granted and either ignore God’s generosity in our lives or be discontent and disappointed because we expect more.

God knew this about the Israelites and He knows it about us as well. That is why we see His warning and command in verses 12-13: 

“then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.”

As we are following God and seeking to invest in others, we need to remember this. We need to stay focused on God. It is so very easy to get distracted by life’s demands, pleasures, and disappointments. This is something that we struggle with and something that those we are investing in will struggle with too.

We need to be intentional about not forgetting God and what He has done for us. Some of that starts with surrounding ourselves with reminders like we talked about last week, but the very act of investing in others also helps us to not forget. If we are spending time teaching others about God and His commands, it makes it easier for us to stay focused on God. It also helps the next generations learn more about Him too. When we leave it up to others to share God’s message with those He has placed in our lives, we aren’t just neglecting them. We aren’t just neglecting to do what God has told us to do. We are also neglecting our own relationship with Him. We are neglecting our ability to not forget Him and all that He has done in our lives. The more the tell our story, our God story, the better we remember it ourselves.

God’s design for investing those around us is amazing just like Him. Doing what He has asked us helps others, helps us, and helps our relationship with Him. So don’t forget. Who will you share your God story with today? Who will you invest in today?

As we explore the idea of Discerning Wonder, it would be a huge oversight not to talk about the wonder of children. In the very first article on this website we talked about the meaning of the word wonder.

WONDER - a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.

No one express this true feeling of surprise and admiration better than a young child. Young children seem to naturally live in world filled with wonder. Everything is new and amazing and remarkable to them. They get excited about the little things we have learned to take for granted.

When we are talking about Wonder, we would definitely be better off if we recaptured some of that child-like amazement about the things around us. In the middle of frustrating traffic, if I would take a deep breath and wonder about the ability that we have to drive down the road, even if it’s at a crawl, I would be a little better. Wonder doesn’t change our situation, but reminds us of the beauty and blessings around us.

Just like we can so easily lose our wonder in day-to-day life as we get older, we can lose our wonder in our spiritual lives as well. We can begin to take for granted how amazing God is and how wonderful His works are. This is yet another area where we would be wise to recapture the wonder of children.

We are not alone in needing to learn this lesson. Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell about the disciples seeing Jesus shining like the sun and talking with Moses and Elijah and then hearing the voice of God. To say that the disciples encountered something “beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable” would be an understatement. Each of the three accounts says that they were “terrified”. You would think that with this amazing and powerful experience, the disciples would be reminded of the greatness of God and filled with wonder for days, but just like we often do, they quickly forgot and moved on to other things. Very quickly after each of these accounts, these three gospel writers tell us that the disciples had begun talking, or maybe even arguing, about which one of them was the greatest. Really? Didn’t they just see that God is the greatest? Oh how quickly we lose our wonder! Matthew 18:1-6 describes what happened next like this:

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

So, just as they are arguing over which of them is the greatest, Jesus tells them that they need to become like children by humbling themselves. Child-like wonder begins with humility. Everything is new to young children. They are constantly learning and don’t think they’ve already got it all figured out. They are easily impressed and excited by the things they see and experience. We need more humility. We need to remember that we don’t have it all figured out. We’re not God and we don’t need to pretend like we are. We need to keep learning. We need to stop and actually take in what God is doing and has done all around us. When we do that, then we will be impressed and excited and filled with wonder like little children. Humility leads to wonder and wonder leads to gratitude and worship.

While these words are easy to say and grasp, they aren’t always easy to remember or put into practice. Once again we see that we are in good company because in Mark 10:13-16 just a short time after this conversation about having humility and being like and receiving children in Jesus’s name this happened:

“And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, ‘Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.’ And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.”

The words “He was indignant” always make me smile a little. He had just had this conversation with them and they clearly didn’t get it. Of course He was indignant. As amusing as I find those words, the ones that catch my attention even more are these: “for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these…whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” It makes me ask myself, “Am I humbling myself and coming to Him with child-like wonder to receive the Kingdom He is offering?”

1 John 3:1 reminds us not only of God’s great love for us, but that we are His children:

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God, and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”

Let’s live (and wonder) like His children today!

At the end of this week we will be celebrating the Fourth of July, also known as Independence Day in the United States. This is not just any Fourth of July though. It’s not just any year marking the birth of this nation. It is the 250th anniversary of that day when representatives from the 13 colonies forming the Continental Congress in Philadelphia voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence creating the United States of America. Our 250 year history has been one filled with courage, bravery, success and independence along with atrocities, cruelty, suffering, conflicts and disasters. All of these have grown and shaped our country over the last 250 years. I am admittedly biased, but think we are a great nation. No, we are not, nor have we ever been, perfect. Yes, we have made and will most likely continue to make many mistakes. While we should not deny or hide those, we also shouldn’t lose sight of the many great things that have been a part of our nation’s history either.

We have been blessed as a nation. To overlook, ignore, or deny those blessings is to have an ungrateful heart. I would hope in this week leading up to this great anniversary of the birth of our nation that we would take time to recognize the blessings that God has so graciously given our nation and us as individuals as well. In Job 12:23 we are reminded of this fact about God: “He makes the nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.” We exist, prosper, thrive, or cease to exist because of Him. This anniversary shows 250 years of God’s grace in establishing and sustaining our country. That alone is something to be grateful for.

I know that there are many differing opinions about the state of our nation right now. In fact, some of you might be even be reading this asking how can you say our nation is so great or that we are blessed don’t you see what a mess things are? You may think our President and the leaders have destroyed our nation, or that our President and leaders are being persecuted and people are trying to destroy them and our nation. If that is where you find your thoughts right now, I understand that, but I point you back to the verse in Job 12:23. Although leaders and other people can significantly affect our lives and nation, ultimately none of them can destroy it or make it great. That privilege and responsibility belongs to God and God alone.

It is easy and seems to have become a favorite pastime of Americans to criticize. We criticize our leaders. We criticize each other. We even have become weirdly critical of ourselves adding to the skyrocketing anxiety in our nation. As believers, I can’t recall a single command or calling for us to criticize others in the way we at times do. Instead I see these reminders and encouragements (along with many more):

“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7)

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (Romans 13:1)

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

So, instead of criticizing and complaining I see reminders to seek peace and prosperity for our city, and nation. I understand that we all probably have different ideas of what that looks like and how it should be accomplished and we can have and civilly share our opinions remembering that if we want others to listen to us then we should be willing to listen to them. We won’t all agree on the what and how of everything, but we don’t stop there.

We’ve also been called to pray for peace and prosperity. While we’re doing that, we are called to be subject to, or under the authority of, the governing authorities. If you are tempted to say that an authority figure you don’t like or agree with is not your leader, I’d caution you to think carefully and look back at Romans 13:1 where we are told that “The authorities that exist have been established by God.” The good ones, the bad ones, the ones we agree with and the ones we don’t have all been established by God for His purpose. We might not understand what that purpose is, but if we say we trust and follow God then we need to submit to His will and recognize His sovereignty. He is sovereign even over schemes of men and flaws of machines.

Finally, not only are we called to pray for the peace and prosperity of our cities and country, but we are reminded to make petitions (requests), prayers, intercessions (praying for their benefit), and thanksgiving for ALL people. I love the way the verse in 1 Timothy is written because just in case we’re not sure that they are included in ALL people, God specifies that these petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving should be made for kings and ALL those in authority. It even goes on to let us know that it pleases God.

With those important reminders, I would encourage you this week (and hopefully beyond) to take time to be grateful for our nation and specifically the Wonder of God’s Blessing on our Nation, but also take time to pray for it’s peace and prosperity. Seek that peace and make sure you are submitting to the authorities God has put in place and pray for them. Because as Billy Graham once beautifully stated, “The secret strength of a nation is found in the faith that abides in the hearts and homes of the country.”

This is week seven in our series on what Scripture teaches us about the value of wonder in our lives and ministries.
  
Today’s Scripture passage is Hebrews 12:28 (NIRV)