Remembering and Forgetting This is Memorial Day 2014. There will be many people going to cemeteries to look at graves and grave stones, place flowers on graves, pausing to remember loved one who died. I can reflect on my father and mother and be thankful that I “lucked out” as they say. This is because none of us can control the time, place, culture, circumstances, genealogy, or genetic structure of our birth. If you had good parents, remember them and be thankful. If you didn’t it is not your fault in any way -- it’s just the “luck of the draw” as they say in poker. God wanted his people to remember certain things. Remembering and forgetting are two very important functions of our minds. I have to control my mind and use these functions to enhance and edify my life. Some people remember the wrong things and forget the right things. God warned the Israelites, “…keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen…” (Deuteronomy 4:9). Again, Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God…” (Deuteronomy 8:11). And. Remember, do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God…” (Deuteronomy 9:7). To remember the lessons of certain mistakes is important to help us not to repeat them in the future. But, despite these warnings Israel did forget. “Thus the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God…” (Judges 8:34). Remembering and forgetting in relation to God are reciprocal. When we remember God He remembers us. When we forget God, He temporarily forgets us. “Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6). God told the Israelites to remember what He did for them in leading them through the wilderness and providing the manna for food so that they would remember that “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:2-3). To have a form of sympathy for your child, you have to remember that son or daughter when they were small. God remembered Ephraim so His compassion would extend to him. “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD (Jeremiah 31:20). Unlike us humans, when God forgives you He doesn’t remember your sins. Here’s is how it is put referring to the New Covenant. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. (Jeremiah 31:34). Because God wanted His people to remember Him, He established certain memory helps called “memorials.” The Passover was such a memorial. “Now this day will be a memorial to you…” (Exodus 12:14). Many often wonder whether their good deeds and their love for God will be forgotten. God has a “book of remembrance” which He keeps (Malachi 3:16). And His remembrance is throughout all generations (Psalm 135:13). On the night He was betrayed, Jesus took bread and wine and used them as symbols of Himself and the blood of the New Covenant. He asked that His disciples take these “in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Paul wrote that when we take this bread and wine it “you do show the Lord’s death till He come” (KJV). But the Greek word for “show” literally means “to proclaim” or “to preach, to make known in public, with implication of broad dissemination, proclaim, announce. We are to remember several things: that the bread is a symbol of Christ’s body and the wine a symbol of His blood of the New Covenant. We are to remember that God has made this New Covenant with us. You should remember that you are making a proclamation for all who see and proclaiming the meaningfulness of Christ’s death. But, most of all, we are to remember Jesus Christ and what He did so that He could bring many sons and daughters to GLORY (Romans 8:29). I hope your Memorial Day was one of remembering your loved ones, but most of all of remembering God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord! David L. Antion for Guardian Ministries
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 19:09:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015