I remember when . . .

With each passing year, we accumulate memories in our mental attic; some carefully tended as treasures, others locked away like classified documents! When my adult children come home to visit inevitably around the table the phrase is heard, “I remember when…” and as the story is told we laugh, joined by our memories.  Who we are individually, as families, even as nations, shaped by our memories. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes and celebrate our victories! On the 10^th anniversary of the attack of jihadists on America, millions of us took time to consciously recall that moment of a Tuesday morning when thousands died.  Jews around the world remember the terrible Holocaust with a simple reminder: “Never again; always, forever.”

Christians share in an act of worship that centers around remembering. Each time we take Communion, Jesus said that we ‘do this to remember Me.’  We share a common Cup, eat of the Bread, and remember the loving sacrifice that erases the penalty of our sin. Our collective memory brings unity reaching back through time, across cultures, and past every human differences.

The nation of Israel was finally entering Canaan after 40 years in the wilderness. They camped at the Jordan River which flowed at flood stage. God gave the order, “Go over! Take possession of the Promise.”  The priests hefted the Ark of the Covenant of God, walked to the water’s edge and stepped into the stream. “As soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away.”  (Joshua 3:15-16)  After the peopled crossed over Joshua gave this direction. He “called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7)

Disciple, take time to remember! When you have those special experiences of God’s provision create a memorial. Recalling moments of failure and/or sin will make us cringe, but if we have dealt with them with confession and received forgiveness, remembering them can keep us from falling into the same pit! We cannot live in the past, but we must not forget it, either. The memories lay a foundation for our faith, inspiring us to trust Him today.

"O Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief." (Psalm 143:1, NIV)  
"I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah" (Psalm 143:5-6, NIV)