Remember

by R. Darke, Victoria, B.C., Canada | Category: General | Apr 1992

"Lest I forget Gethsemane,

Lest I forget Thine agony,

Lest I forget Thy love for me,

Lead me to Calvary".

Today's busy, demanding life can rob Christians of their "Selah" joy:

that joy which comes from pausing to consider the love of Christ. There seems to be so little time to pause and consider; and, incidentally, to remember. The Greek word translated "to remember" infers exercising or punishing the mind. Effort on our part is involved. In the Hebrew, earnestness is indicated. For us, then, to remember is serious business.

God remembers, and He first uses the word in Scripture in relation to

Noah, the flood, and the rainbow: "That I may remember the everlasting covenant" (Gen. 9:16). Pharaoh's butler set an example for us to follow: "I do remember my faults this day" (Gen. 41:9). Hundreds of years later Moses counselled Israel to remember their day of deliverance from Egypt's bondage (Ex. 13:3). Annually this was celebrated in the Passover. Covenants were to be remembered, the blessings of the Lord, and memories of the patriarchs. Three times Nehemiah asks the Lord to remember him (13:31); the psalmist pleads, "Remember how short my time is" (89:47). "Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth", pleads Solomon (Eccles. 12:1); "Remember this, and shew yourselves men", said Isaiah to Israel's idol worshipping remnant as he reminded them of God's faithfulness from birth to old age (46:8); Israel's blindness and love are remembered by the Lord (Jer. 2:2), and we see His grace, in that He would no more remember their sin (31:34); and Habakkuk pleads "in wrath remember mercy" (3:2).

When His disciples moaned about forgetting bread for their journey, the Lord Jesus chided them: "Do ye not yet... remember the five loaves of the five thousand" (Mat. 16:9)? "Remember Lot's wife", was another of His wise warnings (Luke 17:32). Yet, one thing that should cause us to rejoice, was the Lord's response to the dying thief who cried: "Jesus, remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom". Instantly He responded with words of grace and assurance, "Today, shalt thou be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:42). Such love, such willingness to forgive even at the eleventh hour! Such grace should be remembered by us. And what shall we say of the angels' reminder to the perplexed but faithful women who found an empty tomb? "Remember how He spake unto you... that the Son of man must be delivered up ... and be crucified and the third day rise again. And they remembered His words" (Luke 24:1-8).

In review, perhaps our meditation will bring to our remembrance the spiritual value and blessing of the New Covenant; of the confession and forgiveness of our sins; of our deliverance from bondage; of Christ being our Passover; of God's faithfulness; His innumerable blessings through Christ, and our weekly remembrance of Him with the bread and wine. This is a blessed occasion when we are welcomed into God's presence as a holy priesthood to remember, to worship, to praise, to give thanks: an honour we must always remember and value.

R. Darke, Victoria, B.C., Canada | Apr 1992
General