“He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” (Psalm 111:4, NKJV)
Memory! Need I say more? The older we get … the more information we garner … the busier we seem to get … there is just not enough room for all of it! And so with the overcrowding … something gets moved back in the list or to the very back of priority.
Unfortunately, it seems that many are forgetting where they came from spiritually! It seems they have somehow over time forgotten all that the Lord has done for them over the years … and even before they were introduced into this world!
The word “remember” is a word that appears with a great deal of regularity in the Bible. The Book of Deuteronomy finds the lion’s share of its usage. But what does “remember” really mean and why does the Lord instruct and remind us so often to do just that … remember?
The Hebrew word ‘zakar’ is translated in our English Bibles as “remember” It means that whatever has just been mentioned or is about to be mentioned is to be ‘duly noted; to record or to mark it.’
God’s people in the Old Testament had a serious memory problem! They seemed to forget and to do so often … just how much the Lord had already done for them and even what He was doing in their present lives!
Do we ever find ourselves guilty of such a thing? Of course we do! Sometimes we can be guilty of forgetting our own history … our own story of salvation! Time has a way with the help of our adversary to help us forget who we are … where we came from … and where it is that we need to be focused on going to … Heaven!
We are truly living in troublesome times! And if this isn’t enough to wear us down … we continue to live and try to get back to some sense of normalcy with the pandemic that has touched so many lives … including God’s people! It is in just such times as these that we need to ask our Lord to help fill our hearts with hope and with faith!
The Bible affirms that our God knows exactly what is going on and that we need not be overcome with fear and the accompanying of despair … that we ring our hands and say privately or even publicly, ‘what are we going to do?’
Have we forgotten who God is? Have we forgotten what He has done for us and what He promises to do for us in the present and future? Our God is the only one true and living God! He is “the I AM THAT I AM!”
It might appear to the person who has an absence of faith that our nation and the other nations of the world are in the hands of those who rule and make laws. Hear clearly the words of Daniel 2:21 recorded at a time when the Lord’s people had been carried off into captivity. Yet, Daniel writes, “And He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.”
My friends, when the media and all the social influences we are under might try to cause us to forget where we came from … forget who we are … forget the greatness of the cause we are involved in as His holy people … we must remember who actually holds all of the nations and their leaders in His hand! Folks we serve the Creator, the Giver and the Sustainer of all this world. He made us … provides for us all the physical necessities of this life that we need and all of the spiritual blessings that are to be found only in Jesus Christ, His Son!
Am I concerned about the future for my children and my grandchildren? Absolutely! Am I concerned how the church is going to look and be as they grow up? Absolutely! Am I concerned about the evil influences of our world and the unceasing efforts of Satan to gain a foothold in their hearts and lives? Absolutely!
It is when we forget our story … our purpose for being here … that we will forget this is our time to shine … stand … and to be counted among the faithful!
Remember not to forget! Don’t forget to remember! Remember to remember!
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7, NKJV)
Bill Fairchild, Jr.
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