Recall what God Remembers

Please, oh PLEASE, read what Oswald Chambers has to say in this excerpt from his devotional book, My Utmost For His Highest:

"Recall What God Remembers

Thus says the Lord: ’I remember . . . the kindness of your youth . . .’
—Jeremiah 2:2

Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Does everything in my life fill His heart with gladness, or do I constantly complain because things don’t seem to be going my way? A person who has forgotten what God treasures will not be filled with joy. It is wonderful to remember that Jesus Christ has needs which we can meet— "Give Me a drink" ( John 4:7 ). How much kindness have I shown Him in the past week? Has my life been a good reflection on His reputation?

God is saying to His people, "You are not in love with Me now, but I remember a time when you were." He says, "I remember . . . the love of your betrothal . . ." ( Jeremiah 2:2 ). Am I as filled to overflowing with love for Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning, when I went out of my way to prove my devotion to Him? Does He ever find me pondering the time when I cared only for Him? Is that where I am now, or have I chosen man’s wisdom over true love for Him? Am I so in love with Him that I take no thought for where He might lead me? Or am I watching to see how much respect I get as I measure how much service I should give Him?

As I recall what God remembers about me, I may also begin to realize that He is not what He used to be to me. When this happens, I should allow the shame and humiliation it creates in my life, because it will bring godly sorrow, and "godly sorrow produces repentance . . ." ( 2 Corinthians 7:10 ). "

Oswald Chambers touches on one of my favorite verses in this reading. Through His prophet Jeremiah, God cries out to His beloved, reminding her of what He remembers. He remembers that she followed Him into the wilderness. Her love was displayed in obedience and trust.
Chambers really strikes a nerve when he displays God as saying "You are not in love with me now, but I remember a time when you were." When my husband and I first started dating, we both went out of our way to please each other, do special things for each other, be on our best behavior, and always prefer each other over ourselves. Our stomaches were filled with butterflies at the mere mention of each other's names, and every time my phone would ring and his name would come up on caller ID, my palms would start sweating. And oh man, when we got engaged...I'll never forget the feeling. It was "the love of our betrothal." He could have been a CEO or a garbage man and I would have followed him anywhere.
Nowadays, it takes a little bit more to get my palms sweating (but he still does it!). Our love only gets stronger, but at the same time, the unquenchable desire to do nothing other than please each other is...well...prone to fade. For instance, I'm not as consistent in biting my lip when a smart-aleck comment is right on its tip. He doesn't try quite as hard to refrain from certain and various bodily functions in my presence like he used to. You get my point.
Are we doing the same thing to the Lord? To our God, who has absolutely no fault? Is our desire to bless his heart fading? Is the realtionship not what it used to be? If so, its certainly not His fault.
My prayer today is that we'll continue to return to that first love - the love of our betrothal to the King; the love that would do anything and go anywhere without even blinking an eye; the love that gives us butterflies and makes our palms sweat. And if that means going into the wilderness, let's bring our tambourines so we can dance and sing for our beloved while we're there. God remembers what it was like. Let's not forget.