Grace Neglected

How good is our God to us! He is our Father, the One who created us, who makes and establishes us (Deut 32:6). He gives us a very special position, making us His people, His allotted heritage (Deut 32:9). He found us when we were in a desert land - in the howling waste of the wilderness - He encircled us, cared for us, even making us the "apple of His eye" (Deut 32:10). In danger He protects us (Deut 32:11), in confusion He guides us (Deut 32:12), in want He provides many times in miraculous ways (Deut 32:13). How deep is the Lord's grace to us!

And how do we respond to that grace? Many times we are like Israel. We take in all God's blessings and become fat, and instead of offering thanks and praise, we kick. We forsake the Lord who made us; we scoff at the Rock of our salvation (Deut 32:15). Like Israel we are "unmindful of the Rock that bore us, and ...forget the God who gave us birth" (Deut 32:18). In short, we neglect God's magnificient grace!

And where does that take us? For Israel it took them to a place of danger. The Lord said he would hide His face from them (Deut 32:20). Isaiah speaks of a separation between God and His people caused by their sin - a hiding of the face of God from His people so that He does not hear them (Isaiah 59:1-2). The Lord said He would pour out His anger upon them. As He had showered them with good things He could just as easily rain down His wrath upon them. He is, after all , the God who said, "See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand." Neglecting God and His grace is true folly which can only bring us increased heartache.

So what is the solution? Moses put it this way in Deut 32:46-47. He said, "Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess."

It is important for us who live in the land of plenty to beware. Just as Israel grew fat and neglected the Lord from whom every blessing flows, so can we fall into this trap. We must heed the words of Moses and realize there are great consequences for neglecting the Lord's grace. Instead of experiencing increasing measures of life which come from dwelling in the presence of our God, we can separate ourselves and experience the remnants of death. Oh Christian, let us be ever mindful ofGod's grace, ever praising Him for His goodness to undeserving sinners. And let us, by that grace, seek daily to walk in His ways, praying each day to the Lord: "Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes." (Psalm 119:135)