Part I
It’s easy to remember what we really should forget and vice versa. For instance, we don’t usually have any difficulty remembering when someone has hurt our feelings or done something to us in the past that was not pleasant. Yet how easy it is to forget to send birthday cards, or write encouraging notes, or keep a commitment we’ve made to help someone out. It seems our memories tend to work against us all too often.
I want us to look at what the Bible has to say about remembering and forgetting, because our sinful natures have inflicted our memories with this tendency to remember and forget the wrong things.
In Deuteronomy 5:15 Moses said to the children of Israel “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”
Now, Moses knew a little of what lay ahead for these people. He knew there would be days of discouragement, days when they wondered what in the world was happening to them. So, he wanted them to remember what God had done for them. Remember where they used to be and how graciously God had delivered them from their awful slavery to the Egyptians. In fact, the Sabbath day, with its many regulations, was established in order to help them remember. It wasn’t just a frivolous set of rules by which they were to live. It was designed to force them to remember what they needed to remember.
Oh my, how badly we need to learn this lesson. There’s one passage I try to recite very frequently: Psalm 40:2-3: “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.”
Lately God has been impressing me to remember what it was like before he lifted me out of my own miry pit. To recall the gloom and restlessness, the emotional roller-coaster, the guilt and frustration of that self-controlled life. Not to make me despondent, but to cause me to rejoice at what God has done for me.
Let me tell you, when you start rejoicing because your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, everything else that is bothering you seems pretty inconsequential. It gives you a totally new perspective and just transforms your thinking, your attitude, your behavior.
I can well imagine that some of you are in the emotional pits over something or other. I’ve been there, so I know what it’s like. Perhaps everything’s been going wrong lately, or there’s a real crisis in your life, or it’s just a bunch of little things all coming at the same time. If you want to know victory right where you are, start remembering what life was like before you knew Jesus, before he controlled your life.
Just sit down for a few minutes and meditate on what life would be like if you didn’t know Jesus. Recite out loud the pits from which you’ve been delivered. Shake your head in amazement as you ponder how God has rescued you and changed your life. I promise that if you’ll remember what God has done for you—actually force yourself to remember—you’ll discover that your joy will return, your perspective will clear up, your attitude will change.
Here’s another thing we’re told in Scripture to remember. Psalm 103:2: “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…”
You know, benefits are a big deal in American business, aren’t they? We all want to know what benefits we have coming to us from our employer; that’s a key issue in salary negotiations and hiring practices.
As I thought about this verse, I wondered where we could start to even begin to list the benefits that are ours simply because we’ve accepted Christ. The Psalmist goes on to list some key ones:
- He forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases
- He redeems our lives from the pit
- He gives us his incredible love and compassion
- He satisfies our desires with good things and renews our strength.
Wow, some benefits. Have you been forgetting lately the benefits that are yours because of Jesus?
There are many other scriptures which remind us to remember his benefits to us, to remember his miracles, to remember that he created us, that he is the only God, the eternal God. Now, I want to propose to you that, as children of God living in this busy, hectic, troubled world of the Twenty-First Century, we desperately need to remember our benefits as Christ-followers. Much of our stress, much of our frustration, much of our anxiety comes on us because we don’t remember who God is, what he has done for us, where we were before we knew him, and how awful life would be without him.
Just think of the last time you felt depressed; maybe it was today or yesterday or last week or last month. That terrible feeling of depression when life looks bleak, you want to give up, everything’s dismal. If when those moments of depression come on us, we were able to remember what we should remember about God, what do you think would happen to our feelings of depression? We’d have eternal eyesight, and be able to regain our perspective and recognize that, even though these feelings come and go, they can’t wipe us out because we remember to remember God.
Now ask yourself: How do you remember on a daily basis the things you need to remember? Well, you have all kinds of reminders to help you, I would imagine, just like I do. We have lists to tell us what to remember to do, we have calendars and iPhones and all kinds of electronic gimmicks to remind us of appointments and dates, we have other people to remind us as well.
Why don’t we incorporate those same simple techniques to help us remember these important things about God which we desperately need to remember, and which we so easily forget? You have to understand that our enemy, Satan, certainly doesn’t want our memories to work correctly. He’s well aware that if he can get us to forget what we should remember about God, then he can defeat us. So, we’re in a spiritual battle here, and we have to be prepared to fight back.
You know, Moses kept giving the people of Israel customs and rituals and all kinds of special things to help them remember. In Numbers 15 he said to the people, “Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.” If you’ve ever seen a real orthodox Jewish man, you will notice these tassels are still a part of his clothing, and they were given by Moses to help them remember.
Though we’re no longer under the law, I think we need some “tassels” of our own to help us remember. Many times we get out of God’s will and start to live in sin because we don’t remember to remember.
Let me suggest some “tassels” we can incorporate into our lives to help us remember. I’m a big believer in putting little signs around you. Scripture verses on cards, propped up on your desk, posted on yours screen saver, taped to your mirror, sitting on the table by your bed or your breakfast table. These visual signs put in conspicuous places will help you remember. For example, that verse from Psalm 40 is a good one to remind you of where you were before God rescued you.
Another good idea is to use little rituals or routines that you practice as a way of remembering. I’ve often talked about putting on the inner garments we find in Colossians 3. I go through that little routine mentally almost every day, in prayer by faith dressing the inner person, to help me remember how important it is to be kind and generous, gentle and thankful, and so forth.
I think we should use self-talk to help us remember, too. You know, we all talk to ourselves, whether we admit it or not. The problem is many times we say the wrong things to ourselves. The Bible tells us to encourage ourselves, and talking to yourself in right ways can definitely help you encourage yourself, and help you remember what you should remember. I often say to myself things like, “Mary, God is still in Heaven, he is still in control, and the earth is still revolving. Remember, you are his child, he knows, he sees, he cares.” By talking to myself, I remember what I can easily forget in the midst of something unpleasant.
I have written many things in my prayer journal as continual reminders of what God has done. All my answers to prayer are noted in there, with dates and details. What a great way to remember and rejoice again and again for what God has done for you.
My friend Miriam Neff tells about a friend of hers who always wears a butterfly. It may be a ring, stick pin, or a design on her clothing. It reminds her that God has been changing her in positive ways. That’s a great idea. Find a symbol that reminds you of what God is doing in your life and surround yourself with it.
Now, keep in mind there is no power whatsoever in these reminders. They are not good luck charms; they are simply reminders, like the tassels the Jews were told to wear on their clothing.
So, figure out where your memory is failing you. Then take steps to shore it up with reminders—actual physical things that you do or see on a daily basis so that you won’t forget. Remember, Satan is trying to make you forget, your busy life-style will make you forget, the aging process will make you forget. The only way you’re going to remember is to become intentional about it.