You can probably still hear your parents’ voices reminding you to do things you did not always appreciate hearing.

Maybe it was, “Clean your room before you go outside.” Or perhaps it was, “Look both ways before you cross the street,” or the familiar, “Don’t touch, that’s hot!”

You may remember thinking I know, I know as the same instruction was repeated yet again.

Children do not learn every lesson the first time. Sometimes they need several reminders. Occasionally, they must experience the painful consequences of ignoring their parents’ good advice.

Looking back as adults, we can now appreciate why that teaching was so important. Our parents were not trying to spoil our fun. They wanted to put us on the right path without us always having to learn life’s lessons the hard way.

The same principle applies spiritually. As our Father, God has also recorded vital lessons for His children. These lessons are often taught through the stories of people who came before us.

In I Corinthians 10, the apostle Paul described various mistakes made by those in ancient Israel. Verse 11 says: “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

The Bible preserves this history so we can learn from both Israel’s successes and failures. Their experiences remind us that God’s instructions are always for our good.

God did not record these accounts merely so we could study an ancient people. He preserved them so we could also study ourselves.

Not one of us is perfect. We all fall short from time to time. Israel serves as a mirror for us, reflecting the same human nature that exists in us today. Consider three recurring mistakes they made that we must be careful to avoid.

(1) Forgetting What God Has Done

As God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt and led them through the wilderness toward the Promised Land, He provided many miracles, deliverances and blessings.

Imagine watching the Nile turn to blood, hearing the cries throughout Egypt after the death of the firstborn, and then walking through the Red Sea with walls of water towering on both sides. Israel saw miracle after miracle with their own eyes. Few people in history have witnessed such overwhelming evidence of God’s power.

Exodus 13:21-22 says God “went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud…and by night in a pillar of fire.” Every morning, the cloud provided visible evidence that God was leading them. Every evening the pillar of fire reminded them that He had not abandoned them.

Yet human beings can have a surprisingly short memory when it comes to blessings.

In moments of crisis, Israel cried out to God. But once He delivered them, they repeatedly lost sight of what He had done. Psalm 106:21 states, “They forgot God their savior, which had done great things in Egypt.”

It is easy to draw near to God when we are hungry or frightened, but it becomes just as easy to forget what our Creator has done when good times arrive.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. Have we ever prayed about a problem for weeks, only to look back a month later and realize we had not thanked God since we were delivered? Have we sought God’s favor in an area of our lives and determined to do our part, only to return to our old habits after receiving what we asked for?

This can happen more easily than we like to admit.

When blessings come, our gratitude and dependence on God should increase. We must guard against quickly forgetting what He has done for us. Make it a regular part of your prayers to thank Him for specific blessings, answered prayers and past deliverances.

I Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

We must replace forgetfulness with gratitude.

Psalm 103 provides a helpful list of some of the things we should remember: “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” (vs. 2-4).

Take time to study the entire chapter and reflect on the many ways God has worked in your life.

Anciently, forgetting God’s blessings had consequences. Once Israel lost sight of what God had already done, it became much easier for fear and discouragement to take over. Before long, those attitudes surfaced in another familiar way.

(2) Murmuring

Israel’s failure to remember God’s power quickly led to another mistake: murmuring.

Their complaints were not just tied to the difficult circumstances of trudging through the wilderness. Their words revealed what was happening in their minds and how they were beginning to view God.

Even before Israel crossed the Red Sea, the people asked Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?” They even claimed, “It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (Ex. 14:11-12).

God then miraculously divided the sea and delivered them from Pharaoh’s army. Yet only three days later, when they could not drink the bitter waters at Marah, “the people murmured against Moses” (15:24).

Soon afterward, “the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.” They said, “Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt…for you have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (16:2-3).

They had barely left Egypt and had already repeatedly accused God’s servants of leading them to their deaths.

God mercifully responded by providing manna—bread from heaven—for Israel to eat. The people were satisfied for a time, but later returned to complaining. They cried out: “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: but now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes” (Num. 11:5-6).

Incredibly, these former slaves began looking fondly upon their time in bondage.

It is easy to read these accounts and wonder how people who had witnessed so many miracles could behave this way. But we must ask ourselves: Do we ever display similar attitudes?

The very same human nature (Jer. 17:9) that existed in the Israelites still exists in us today. If we are not careful, it can lead us into the same patterns of thinking.

The apostle Paul in the New Testament warned of this mindset: “Do all things without murmurings and disputings” (Phil. 2:14). Murmuring here can mean grumbling or grudging. We are not traveling through the wilderness like Israel, but we can still find plenty to grumble about, even among the comforts of modern society.

Complaining is more serious than we might think. Whether Israel understood it or not, their repeated complaints suggested they did not believe God could properly care for them or fulfill the promises He made.

God was not pleased with Israel’s murmuring. Neither is He pleased when we fall into a grumbling, murmuring attitude today.

What do we tend to complain about?

We may not openly accuse God as Israel did, but even little things can spark complaints. We can become irritated by heavy traffic, a long wait at the doctor’s office, or a slow-moving line at the grocery store.

Larger concerns can also test us. We may become discouraged while waiting for employment, healing, the right person to marry, or an answer to something we have prayed about for a long time.

Regardless of the cause, a complaining mindset prevents us from seeing the big picture. When we become frustrated with waiting, we are more likely to overlook what God is developing within us. James wrote, “Let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (1:4).

God may be using the wait itself to build patience, faith and character.

Changing our focus is essential. Colossians 3:2 states, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Remembering that God is working in our lives and preparing us for responsibilities in His soon-coming Kingdom helps place today’s difficulties in their proper perspective.

Israel repeatedly allowed present discomfort to overshadow the Promised Land ahead of them. By keeping God’s purpose and the big picture in mind, we can succeed where they failed.

(3) Replacing God with Idols

Another of Israel’s recurring failures was allowing other things to take God’s place.

No story illustrates Israel’s spiritual struggles more clearly than the golden calf. The same people who witnessed the plagues in Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, ate manna from heaven and heard God’s voice at Mount Sinai quickly turned to an idol of their own making.

God told Moses in Exodus 32:8, “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be your gods, O Israel, which have brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

By worshipping the golden calf, they allowed something they had created to replace the God who had delivered them from slavery.

The same danger exists today whenever we allow anything to take God’s place in our lives. We do not keep carved idols next to our fireplaces, but modern idolatry still exists—and it is often very subtle.

Ezekiel 14:3 speaks of people who “have set up their idols in their heart.” An idol does not have to be a physical object. It is anything that takes first place in our lives.

Entertainment, sports, hobbies, finances, social media and family can become idols. Each can have a proper place in our lives, but none should crowd out our relationship with God.

Anything that displaces God in our thoughts, time and priorities can become an idol.

What receives most of our attention? What do we turn to first for security, comfort or direction? What are we most afraid of losing? Honest answers to these questions can reveal whether something is becoming too important in our lives.

The best defense against idols of the heart is actively putting God first. That includes making time to draw close to Him through prayer, study and the other tools of Christian growth.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” Ask Him to show you anything that may be consuming too much of your time, attention or affection. He will help you recognize where your priorities need to change.

Consult God when you have an important decision to make. Arrange your life around your relationship with Him rather than attempting to fit Him around everything else. Careful attention to these things will help you avoid setting up idols of the heart.

Putting These Lessons to Work

Just as loving parents repeat important lessons because they want the best for their children, God preserved Israel’s history because He wants His children to succeed. Romans 15:4 explains, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning.”

In Exodus 19:6, God told ancient Israel they were to become unto Him “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” Yet they never lived up to that potential.

God’s people today are also described as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (I Pet. 2:9).

Physical Israel was chosen by God but frequently failed to live up to that calling. As God’s spiritual nation today, we must strive not to repeat the same mistakes they made. We must succeed where they failed.

Let’s read I Corinthians 10:11 one more time: “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

Israel’s example is not recorded so that we can look down on them. It is a warning that we possess the same human nature and can easily fall into the same patterns.

That is why Paul continued, “Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (vs. 12).

In the Old Testament, God patiently worked with an imperfect people, and He is just as willing to work with us today. By remembering His blessings, maintaining a proper perspective and keeping Him first in our lives, we can learn from Israel’s history and live up to the calling God has given us.