How easy it is to forget what God has done for us. This week, as expressed in Deuteronomy, we’ll look at this important principle, that of remembering and not forgetting God’s interaction in our lives.

How should the reality of human sinfulness, even our own sinfulness, keep us humble before others (in that we don’t judge them) and before God?

We are sinners, and though Christ came to save sinners, we must repent of our sins. And that repentance—whether as a backslider or as a faithful Christian who falls into sin or as a new convert—includes a turning from our old sinful ways.

Ultimately, they had to make the choice to return to Him, and to obey Him, with all their hearts. In one sense, the real issue was their hearts, because if their hearts were right with God, their actions would follow; that is, they would be obedient.

They fell into the sins that God had warned them about. And yet, even then, God was willing to take them back if, using their free will, free choice, they repented and returned to Him.

God’s grace is amazing. Even after they fall into the horrific evil of idolatry, even after they have received the due consequences of their sins, if they turn to the Lord, He will forgive them and restore them. In short, if they freely choose to repent, He will accept their repentance.

Biblical Hebrew, like most languages, is sprinkled with idioms, when specific words are used to mean something different from what they actually say. 

Because we are sinful, repentance should be a central part of our Christian existence. And this week, we will see the idea of repentance as expressed in Deuteronomy.