Our first parents, Adam and Eve, rebelled. They ate what they were told not to eat and that introduced sin into the human race. Ever since, we’ve been bent on going our own way. Our nature is to seek life and happiness on our own terms, not God’s.

And yet all through history, God’s message has been consistent: return to Me. I will be Your God. You will be my people. I will love and provide for you. You will love and worship Me.

Life as it was meant to be will one day be restored when God brings heaven to earth (Revelation 21-22). Our desire to go our own way, to live independent of God will be no more. We will leave in peace with Him, enjoying the friendship with Him that He always desired.

Until then, we toil and sweat and endure pain and hardships. We suffer loss. We experience conflict with people we love. We live in fear or anger or worry or anxiety. We wonder if God sees or cares or actually does love us. We question His goodness when times are bad. We struggle and groan in a world cursed by sin.

Faithfully though, God continues to call to us. He invites us to love Him and seek Him. He wants us to trust Him, to believe Him, to rely on Him. When we do, we discover He really is good. He really does love us. He can be counted on when times are good and when times are bad.

Sadly though, we most often seem to forget Him. Some of us go hours without even thinking about Him. Many of us go through entire days or weeks without truly taking the time to talk with Him or even consider that He’s there–waiting for us to acknowledge Him, seek Him and love Him.

In Ezekiel 22, God is detailing the sins Judah has been guilty of when in verse 12 it says, “And you have forgotten Me, declares the Sovereign LORD.”

You have forgotten Me.

Do you think that just maybe that might be one of the worst sins we could ever commit? Maybe the worst? Could forgetting God be the root issue of all the sin and difficulties in our lives?

Flip it around for a moment. What would your life look like today if you were to constantly remember God’s way of doing things and His presence in your life?

What if you were to remember that His ways are always best and that His power is always available to enable you to carry out whatever He has called you to do?

He has a plan for your marriage and the power for you to live it out. He knows your spouse’s needs and how best to meet them. He knows the sources of conflict and how to resolve them. He sees the problems that lie ahead and how to handle them.

Your job may not seem like a spiritual activity, something God is all that involved in, but it is. Your job as a teacher, a coach, a manager, a sales person, a business owner or whatever, is no less sacred than being a pastor or missionary. If God has called you to your position, then He knows how He wants you to do your job and His wisdom and strength are available to do it.

Your financial problems may seem like your mess to deal with, but that’s not how God sees it. Yes, you may have to deal with the consequences of poor choices, but He has a plan to help you. His principles for handling finances are always best.

In God’s way of thinking, there is no segmentation to life. You don’t have a personal life, a work life, a family life and a church life. You don’t have a life you live Monday through Thursday, another you live on Friday and Saturday nights and then another for Sunday mornings. You have one life and God is central to it. In fact, HE IS YOUR LIFE.

Read that last sentence again. I believe our failure to believe it, and then live like it’s true, is the real problem we all face. We forget God, but still have needs, wants and desires that we long to fulfill. Life then becomes and endless, fruitless search for life and meaning apart from the only true Source.

Isn’t it funny that people have looked for life and happiness in money and material things for thousands of years, but haven’t found it? And yet we keep looking there? According to Sports Illustrated, 78% of former NFL players are broke or financially stressed. 60% of former NBA players are broke just five years after retiring. These guys made millions of dollars, but are now broke. No, they didn’t understand how to handle their money, but that’s the point. They sought life and happiness by buying all the things and pleasures money could buy. But it didn’t work. They spent themselves into poverty.

This life provides a multitude of distractions. All kinds of diversions and excuses for forgetting God. You’d almost think someone evil was behind a world system like that.

So here’s the question for you (and me): what will it take for you to remember God? I don’t just mean remember He exists, but that He’s your life. That He’s central to who you are. That He doesn’t want to just be an afterthought, but wants to be your first thought and last thought and every thought in between?

What will it take for us to embrace Him and His way of living life and stop chasing our lesser gods? What will it take for us to put away our idols and turn away from our temporary pleasures and pursuits that provide fleeting happiness, but always leave us empty?

Will it take a personal crisis? A serious health issue? The loss of a job? What will it take for us to truly remember God?

What will it take for you?