“Make sure you don’t forget God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules, and regulations that I command you today. Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, build pleasant houses and settle in, see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, watch your standard of living going up and up—make sure you don’t become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God, your God, the God who delivered you from Egyptian slavery; the God who led you through that huge and fearsome wilderness, those desolate, arid badlands crawling with fiery snakes and scorpions; the God who gave you water gushing from hard rock; the God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you.” (Deuteronomy 8:11-16 The Message Bible)
I was testing my memory the other day to see if I could remember some of my old phone numbers, locker combinations in high school, and passwords that I have discontinued using or rarely use. I remember some of my old phone numbers from those days when you could figure out where someone lived by the first three digits in the number, excluding the area code. As a matter of fact, those first three digits were often used to determine where you lived or how “well-off” your family, based on one’s own economic status as a comparison. I remembered some of my phone numbers associated with different growing phases as an adult. Some of those phone numbers brought back smiles and others sadness because of selfishly deviating off the path of righteousness. I remembered one of my locker numbers and I thought back on times where I tried to figure out combinations of my friends’ lockers as if my touch or hearing was all that good. I failed in those efforts. I have gone online and tried to purchase something from a retailer that I have purchased from before, but when they asked me for my password, I had long forgot it and I had to reset it or request the company to remind me or resend it.
Obviously, like most people, we don’t remember all the numbers and codes we have used in the past. We may have them written down on a page longer than the Ten Commandments, but we don’t remember all of them. But unlike some people, those who don’t know Christ, we don’t have a problem with the most Important number, “One”, referring to the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And, as a matter of fact, we don’t have a problem with remembering the most important code that brought us through our past, that is bringing us through our present time, and has assured us of a brighter day ahead in our futures. See if I am right about it. Indulge me and figure out this code, “10-5-19-21-19! Hint: The numbers represent letters in the alphabet. Now, figure the code if you have not guessed it already. Did you get it? Great! Stay God- conscious today, well, as you should every day! Remember the number and depend on the code! Be blessed!
“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.” (2 Timothy 2:8a)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King