REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

"Remember who you are." Four words that my Daddy used to say to me over and over again. I would be headed out the door with my friends and I would hear, "Remember who you are." As a teenager I thought, "How could I forget who I am, Dad???" Another phrase I heard often was, "...because of who you are."  I would come home and ask permission to go somewhere or do something and if the request was denied the reason would be "because of who you are."  That used to irritate me to death! Why would his allowing me to go somewhere or do something with my friends have any bearing who *I* was??? Though I didn't always understand, Daddy was trying to remind me to think before I did anything stupid. He wanted me to remember that anything I did, while out of his sight, or any rash decision I made was not going to affect just me. Wherever I went, I took the family name with me. What you do, whether good or bad, right or wrong, shows people who you are, and it tells something about whose you are too. Daddy wanted me to remember that my actions reflected on him and my mother, as well as my Saviour.

I. WE ARE FORGETFUL.

Israel used to forget who and whose they were ALL the time! In First Samuel 12, Samuel is older and nearing death. He is very frustrated with Israel. He is trying to remind them  of all that God has done for them. Now, back in chapter 10:19, he tried to tell them they were rejecting God by asking for a king, but they refused to listen to him. When Samuel talked to God about it all, God calmed him and said, "they have not rejected you, they have rejected me." So here Samuel is, reminding them one last time of all that God has done for them. He says, "turn not from following the Lord." He tells them, "the Lord will not forsake his people for HIS great name's sake." (v. 12) In other words, you may have forgotten God but he has not forgotten you. I wondered,..."How did they get to the place where they had forgotten God? I mean these people had witnessed A LOT of miracles!" FINALLY, they realize what they've done, though not before the loss of many blessings. (Ps.81:10-16) How does one become so forgetful?

II. WE HAVE NO FEAR.

Who likes to be called a "scaredy-cat"? Did you know that are things that we "should be" afraid of? Like, poisonous snakes. (yuck!) And icky spiders. (Grose!) Sometimes we're scared of things we can't see. Like the thought of some stranger swiping our children, or creaky noises outside, at night.  Some people are scared of heights. Not me, I'm scared of falling from them. BUT, in all seriousness, we should be fearful of disobeying God. We should be fearful of what He will think of us. Do you know, if we feared what God thought about us, there'd be no way we could forget Him? Because if we feared Him then all of our decisions would be based on what He thought. Proverbs 8:13 says, "the fear if the Lord is to hate evil."  For example, we should ask ourselves "Would God care if I go there? Would God care if I say that? Would God care if I smoke this? Drink this? Watch this? Wear this? Do that? Have that?" If we actually feared what HE thought about us, we could never forget Him. Did you know that fearing God will bring you riches, honour, and life? (Pro.22:4) Did you know that fearing God helps you to be satisfied with what you have? (Pro.19:23) It also gives you confidence. (Pro.14:26-27) It even brings you God's favour. (Pro. 14:35) You'd think a person would want God's favour, wouldn't you??? Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Knowledge is something you gain from studying. It makes you smart. So if fearing God makes you smart, then not fearing Him makes you what??? Hhmmm. Fear + Knowledge = God's favour. Seems simple enough. But did you know that you have to CHOOSE to fear God? (Pro.1:25-33) Okay, so what we know so far is, when we don't fear God we lose God's favour, and soon after we forget Him. But I am still wondering, how does a Christian forget God???

III. WE FORGET HOW FRAIL WE ARE.  (Psalm 39)

This passage says "an handbreadth." What is that? It doesn't specify WHOSE, it just says, "an handbreath." Whose to say how big the hand is that God is measuring your life by? Maybe your hand? Maybe mine? What if the hand is the hand of a three year old? What if it is the hand of a giant? Look at your hand right now. What if your life is only as long as the span of YOUR hand? The thing is this, no matter what, we only get one shot at this life.  And none of us knows how long that is going to be. We tend to measure our lives by others, and by other peoples standards instead of God's. We have got to learn to go to the ONE who knows how to make the best use of what we have to offer. Only God can make something beautiful out of dirt! We tend to forget that we only have a handbreadth's amount of time and we throw all caution to the wind and live however we want! We never ask God, or the wise counselors he's placed in our lives,  like our pastor, born-again parents,  godly lay-people in the church or maybe folks who are older and more experienced than we are. We think, "What? 'ask' what I should do?...What if they tell me something I don't want to hear?" If we want the King's favour, we have to choose to fear - and we have know we are frail - and then we will never forget who we are, or whose we are. So, next time you think you are "all that" and say to yourself,  ".. No one can tell me, .. I can do what I want!" Just throw your hand up in front of you and think about how much time you have. And remember whose name you carry.

You know, after I read the first book of Samuel, and I was halfway through the second, I realized something. (Those of you who read your Bibles know that the books of Samuel are mostly about David)

David is known for TWO things:

1. Killing Goliath.

2. Stealing another man's wife.

Before he stole another man's wife, he was known as a "great man, a giant slayer, a great warrior" and he asks God before EVERY battle, "Lord should I go?" or "Lord will you deliver them into my hand?" and God did it EVERY time! But David never asked God before he took Bathsheba. And after her, he is known as an "adulterer." Nothing all that great happened in his life ever again. He forgot WHO he was and WHOSE he was. He forgot to fear. He forgot he was frail. Just remember, you get one shot. One shot at being a kid. One shot at being a teenager. One shot at being an adult. One shot at being a husband, or a wife. One shot at being a dad, or a mom. You're going to make mistakes, but you will make less of them if you seek God FIRST, and pattern your life the way HE wants it. Remember who you are. You are HIS.