The Danger of Familiarity

"Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His Holy Name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies."
(Psalm 103:1-4)

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and FORGET NOT all His benefits:

Do you ever feel like God can become too familiar?

Familiar sounds like a good thing. And I suppose on some level it IS a good thing - comfortable - like your favorite pair of jeans.

But "familiar" has a hidden danger. With familiarity comes the danger of something becoming commonplace or ordinary. You know...we're FAMILIAR with it to the point that it is taken at face value. We don't need to pay attention to it any longer because we assume we know all there is to know about it.

The sense of wonder and awe has long been set aside, when we become familiar with something.

That happens in our relationship with the Lord sometimes. He becomes very familiar.

And we forget.

We forget His forgiveness.
We forget His power to heal and restore.
We forget His Redemption.
We forget His lovingkindness and mercy.

And we forget to thank Him and give Him praise.

Not because we are ungrateful. Nope. We just don't think about it. Or we assume He knows we are thankful. Why?

Because He has become too familiar.

I like what Moses said in Deuteronomy 6:10-12, "So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant - when you have eaten and are full - THEN beware, lest you forget the Lord Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

O bless the Lord, O my soul and FORGET NOT all His benefits!

Father, forgive us for times we take You for granted, for the times we become so familiar with You that we forget just Who You are. I am so sorry for that Lord. It is so very easy to get caught up in my daily realities and routine that You become another "check" on my to-do list. Father, I pray that I will never tire of Your glory, that I will always be thrilled with the thought of spending time with You. Thank You for everything You have done for me. And thank You for Your sweet, sweet Spirit that bathes me in Your love.