Remember who God is and who you are (Deuteronomy 4-5, Luke 6)

There’s no one like our God! What a privilege to be His people. The book of Deuteronomy recounts what God has done to get Israel to this point. As Israel is about to enter the promised land, God is saying to them, remember who you are. Who are they? They are a beloved people. Here is where we must find our identity. Here is why the world is so lost today, so many have denied that God even exists. If you don’t know that you are a beloved child of God, you’re naturally going to ask questions about who you are as you strive to make an identity for yourself. But God says to Israel, you are my people! What a privilege to have God so near that you can talk to Him! What a privilege to have his law to give direction in life so that we know how to live (Deuteronomy 4:8).

But God knows how prone we are to forget, and so He gets Moses to remind them “take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart.” (Deut 4:9)

Keep your soul diligently! Don’t forget who God is, and who you are. And pass this on to the next generation – “to your children and your children’s children.” (4:9)

What were they to pass on and not forget? That God spoke to them from the fiery mountain(4:12), gave them the 10:commandments (4:13) and rescued them from Egypt (4:34). No other god has done this! What an amazing thing to do, to grow His people into a great nation and then bring them out and give them their own land and tell them how to live!

God must love His people, we get a glimpse of His heart in 5:29, He longs that they will obey Him because He knows this is what is best for them. He’s told them how to live so that life may go well.

And yet Israel forgot. God knew the only way that He could rescue His people forever was through an even greater Exodus. God would have to come and rescue His people from the slavery of sin by giving His Son as our Passover Lamb.

What other god has done this?

There is no God like our God! If you’re a Christian, you can know God so close that you can call on Him. You can know that you are a beloved child of God. So loved that He’s not only given His law to tell us how to live but He’s given us His Son so that we can live, and His Spirit to live inside us. Remember who God is and what He’s done for you, and don’t forget. Like Israel, we need to pass this on to the next generation so that they also know who they are. If only people could know what it is to be a beloved child of God, surely that would help with today’s yearnings and identity crises.

Jesus tells us in our reading from Luke 6, that if we put His words into practice, yes the storms will still come, but we will not be flattened by them, because we’ll have built on the solid foundation of Jesus.

So today, hear God’s voice saying, know who you are, you are my creation, and I have given my Son for you so that you can be mine forever. Remember who you are, and pass this on to the next generation.