Greetings to you…beloved member of the family of God…in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ – THE Risen Savior! Wow! what a lovely winter morning – sunshine, snow, blue skies, clouds, everything! I join with the Psalmist in declaring that “this is the day that the Lord has made, so let us rejoice and be glad in it!” I trust that you have had a good week and are excited about the weekend. This morning I will be praying for you, asking Father to bless you and keep you…to let his face shine upon you…to be gracious to you…to turn his attention to you…to give you peace…to let the world know that you belong to Him.
This morning I am pondering the idea of remembering. Now, by the way, I learned that “to ponder” does not mean what I thought it did. I thought that “ponder” was simply an old-fashioned, perhaps antiquated, word that meant to “think”. However, I discovered that “to ponder” is an active word suggesting eagerness, and life-giving. It means to search with great care, to chase after, to examine, to explore, and to interrogate. Okay, that comes to you with no additional cost.
I was “pondering” the word “remember” in the context of the Bible, only to discover that the Bible considers the act of “remembering” as very important. We are told to remember how God has acted on our behalf. We are to remember the sabbath day. He gave memorial stones to help the Israelites remember. He gave us bread and wine to help us remember. He told the Israelites to tie His Word around their arms and put on their foreheads. He told them to post His words on their door posts. We are told to remember Him. We are told to remember where we came from – our lostness, our unworthiness. We are to remember who we belong to. We are to remember how much He loves us. We are to remember where we are heading. It seems that remembering is an integral part of our walk with God. I think some of you can remember more things we are to remember.
There seems to be only one kind of “forgetting” – opposite of remembering that is acceptable and that is forgetting so we can remember. Paul says that he forgets what is behind him-the good, the bad, the ugly – so that he can remember to go forward – to experience more of what God has in store for him (Philippians 3:12-14).
I have a sense that one of the most challenging aspects of the time we are living in is the prevalence of “spiritual amnesia”. I think the world and its value system has given us a knock on the head and we have forgotten who we really are; and where we have come from; and who we belong to; and how much we need and depend on regaining our memory.
A little something to “ponder”…have a blessed day!