Where I parked the car at Walmart, where I put my keys, who said what, where I met someone, names of countless people, what I was going to do during my free time, details at work, individual statistics, the laundry, song lyrics, and well, you get the picture. And I know I'm not alone in this.
Why do I forget so much? Is it because I'm getting older? Is it because I try to remember too much? Is it because our generation is immersed in so much more information overload than any before us? The debate on this will continue until the cows from Chick-Fil-A let us eat beef again (oh, that isn't the clique? Hmm...) , but the fact is that I forget little things constantly.
This wouldn't bother me so much except that it spills over into, for lack of a better term, my Christian life. I forget to pray, I forget to say grace before eating, I forget to pick up my Bible and read it, I forget what a loving, forgiving God I serve, I forget the power and freedom I have in Jesus, I forget how serious and harmful sin really is, and unfortunately, this list goes on and on like the one above.
I mean, what is wrong with me? I have been in church ever since I can remember, and have read my Bible on my own time, so I've seen and heard these truths a million times. It should be easy to remember these life principles, right?
This was no surprise to God. It seems like you read through the Old Testament stories, and in every one, God is reminding the Israelites who He is and what He's done in the past for them.
I'm pulling one example out to unpack that I found by a quick online Bible keyword search. (Hey, I believe in being honest with my readers. I didn't even remember this story without help.)
In Exodus 17, we find the Israelites in the midst of their 40 year desert wandering. God has already provided water in the desert from a rock. But now, the Amalekites are attacking them at Rephidim (which I'm going to call Reno for the rest of this post). Moses tells his protege, Joshua, to go get some men to fight the Amalekites while he stands on top of a hill with the staff in his hands. Even though this sounds odd, Joshua did as he was ordered. As long as Moses kept his hands up, the Israelites were winning the battle. (Is this the origin of hand raising in the church worship service? Who knows?) Moses had to have people hold his hands up because his arms got tired. Mine get tired after two or three songs, so I don't hate. Anyway, the Israelites win the Battle of Reno, and the Lord tells Moses to write this down: the Amalekites will be wiped out.
The significance here is that God wanted them to have proof that God is all-knowing, and predicted it, and when it happened, they could look back and read the scroll that said something like, "Battle of Reno won by Moses holding a staff above his head the whole day. God promises to eliminate the entire Amalekite army,". And do you know of an Amalekite country or have an Amalekite Facebook friend? Yeah, I didn't think so. God provided for the Israelites and eliminated many of its enemies, including the Amalekites.
Back then, places were named, altars were built, and things were written down to remember what God had done for generations. Perhaps we should do the same in some way or fashion, but to end this thought on the practical would be missing the point: this is another wonderful way that God meets us where we are. We remember what Christ did for world and for us every time we take communion/Lord's Supper, we sing songs about God's character in part to stir our brains to remember specific ways that God has shown Himself in our own lives, we have a written Word so that we don't necessarily have to remember it all, and we pray as a reminder that we are completely dependent on God. God knows all, and with that, knows that we can't possibly remember everything He has taught us. So he lovingly reminds us as only He can. The Israelites couldn't remember the past, and neither can we without His help.
"Do this in remembrance of me"...lest we forget.
How has God reminded you of who He is and what He's done recently?
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