Forget-me-nots

Hosea 13:6 “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.”

If I were to take an inventory of my life, I would have to admit that I have regularly called on Jesus in moments of distress, only to forget about him more or less immediately after he sends the relief I sought. To varying degrees, we are all guilty of this, and God makes pretty clear in scripture that it frustrates him.

Jesus actually connects forgetting him with forgetting the poor. In Matthew 25, he explicitly states that the way we remember and honor him is by remembering and honoring the poor, sick, and imprisoned.

So when Israel, Sodom, America, whoever, grows satisfied, proud, and forgetful, Jesus does not take it likely. In fact, we could list dozens of examples of proud and unconcerned folks in scripture who are lifted up as examples of people who have missed the point entirely – they believe their prosperity is the result of their own doing and they forget God and the people he calls them to care for. What does it mean for you that Jesus takes the care of others so seriously?