Lent Reflections – Don’t Forget Where You Came From

By Rashard Allen

Today’s Scripture Readings
Psalm 41, 52, 44
Deut 8:11-18
Heb 2:11-18
John 2:1-12

“Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Deut. 8:11-15)

Growing up I would often hear the phrase “Don’t forget where you came from.” The implication was that when people move up in socio-economic status, they often move away from their community of origin and sometimes even disassociate themselves from their old friends and family. This obviously doesn’t sit well with the community that gets left behind, as they often refer to such people as “sell-outs.”

In many ways, we are tempted to do a similar thing in our relationship with Jesus. It was Him who by His death broke “the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” and freed us whose “lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb. 2:14-15 para.) If God never did anything else for us, this act alone would be worthy of our eternal gratitude and commitment to Him. Yet, as time goes on, and we continue to enjoy the “blessings” of this world (plenty of food, nice houses, cars, TV, etc.) we can easily “become proud and… forget the Lord” (Deut. 8:14). We begin thinking that we have these material blessings because we earned them. Even worse, we become so enamored with and protective of our “stuff” that we spend the bulk of our time accumulating more, giving less, and claiming that those who are poor and hurting (the very people God has called us to serve) have “done it to themselves.” Essentially, we have “sold-out” God.

I encourage us all to remember this Lenten season that without God’s great love for us, all the material “blessings” in the world would be meaningless, as all of us would be headed toward both temporal and eternal misery. May it never be said of us “Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold, but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!” (Psalm 52:7) Instead, let be those who “trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever” (Psalm 52:8b), for He is the one who saved us and sustains us. We are His and His alone. Let us never forget where we came from.