Don't Forget to Remember
Memorial. "Something, especially a structure, established to remind people of a person or event."
Somehow we managed to find a few quiet moments this past week, between all of the fun activities that come from a 3 day weekend and the kids finally getting out of school for the summer. My mind and heart kept settling on John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." Isn't that why we celebrate Memorial Day? Because of the brave men and women that laid down their lives for our freedoms, we get to have the freedom of an extra day of rest. My son asked me, "why do we celebrate Memorial Day?" and I responded, "It is a day that we set aside to honor those who have died protecting our country and our freedoms, its a strange day in a way, because that seems like a hard thing to do sometimes. So we set aside time to remember them, and what they paid for our freedoms."
Remembering. We all want to be remembered don't we, because we equate being remembered to being valuable enough to have made an impact. I know that I want to be valuable enough that I leave an impact, at the very least on those that I love. Don't we all want to feel as though our efforts are valuable enough to be remembered? We all struggle with our worth at times, knowing with confidence that we are valuable and that what we do and have done matters.
This idea of remembering and being remembered has been resonating with me. I have to ask my kids all the time, "did you remember to brush your teeth, brush your hair, put your dishes away?" Every single day. We are such forgetful creatures. It is a shame really. We forget so easily what is expected of us, what has been done for us, and how much we already have. We take things for granted and I hate that we do this. I want to remember to be grateful, I want to remember what Jesus has already done for me, instead of focusing on what I want Him to do for me in the future.
In one of David Platt's Radical podcasts, he was doing a sermon from Mark 8. Jesus had just fed the 4000, and just fed 5000 two chapters ago, and the disciples get in a boat with Jesus. The disciples "had forgotten to bring bread except for one loaf, and they start talking to each other, worried about their lack of bread. How quickly they had forgotten and in verse 18 Jesus says, "and do you not remember?" David goes on to say, "Now why is that line so significant? Well, think about it, picture it. Here are 12 guys in the middle of a lake with one piece of bread worried because they don't have enough food. Its like they had completely forgotten that the man in the boat with them can do a lot with a loaf of bread. Like if Jesus can take 5 loaves and feed over 5000 people and have 12 basketfuls leftover, if he can take 7 loaves of bread and feed over 4000 people with over 7 basketfuls leftover, then one loaf for 12 guys, 13 if he is really hungry, is totally doable don't you think? But its like they had totally forgotten what Jesus had done with the bread and as a result of their forgetfulness they were exhibiting a lack of faith." We do the same thing. We look around at all of the things that surround us, focusing on any and everything but Jesus and we can get overwhelmed. But when we quiet ourselves and focus on Jesus remembering what he has already done for us, we can find a small bit of peace by being grateful for what he has done.
We make lists to remember things, we leave ourselves visual ques, reminders to stop, and to not forget. God set this precedent for us in Joshua chapters 3-4. God had just parted the Jordan river so that his people can cross over it on dry ground. This is so important to me, because God doesn't just stop the water, he completely dries up the river bed that was at flood stages. Y'all I happen to live close to a creek (not a river but it helps me with the visual) and when it is at flood stages, we don't even go in the water because it is dangerous, and when the water finally recedes it takes weeks for the ground to not be muddy, squishy and hard to walk through. God DRIED IT UP! After all of the people have crossed on DRY land, God tells Joshua to send out 12 men, one from each tribe to get a stone and set it up on the banks as a reminder for what God has done, so that when their children ask why the stones are there, they will remember. God knows that we are forgetful, so he tells us to give ourselves visual ques to remember what he has done.
I want to remember the important things, the things that have already been done, it gives me room to be grateful. I like to look at old pictures of my kids when they were little and remember their little pudgy hands and cheeks and the cute little ways that they mispronounced words and it brings a smile to my face. How much more so when we stop and remember what God has done for us. It gives us pause, reminds us that we are so much in need of a savior, because of our sin and shortcomings. I remember the cross, how Jesus died to satisfy this need and I am so grateful, and it causes me to worship, and praise him for all that He is and all that He has done. So what visual ques can you give yourself to pause and remember all that God has already done for you? I have a sign over my front door from Deuteronomy 28:6 it says "You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out." It reminds me to be a blessing to everyone that passes through my door, whether they are coming or going that I should cultivate hospitality in my home. I love to wear graphic tees that remind me who I am, like this new one I got from She Who Is.
.
Comments
Post a Comment