Remember

It just occurred to me how often the Bible talks about remembering. In the Old Testament, we see the Israelites forget what God has done for them and they become a discontent people, disobedient to God. God's chosen people forget. They worshiped idols because they forgot. They sinned because they forgot. The Israelites used to cry out for God to remember them, but unlike the Israelites, God always remembers His people. He continually saves the Israelites, guides them to safety, provides for them, and makes covenants with them.

Psalm 78:4-7 says, “… we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power and the wonders he has done. He decreed statues for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. They would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands”

The rest of Psalm 78 is about the Israelites and their times of remembrance and obedience and their times of forgetfulness and disobedience and most importantly, God’s faithfulness to the Israelites. It talks about how God delivered His people from the Egyptians.

Do we remember what God instructed His people to do before He brought them out of the land of the Egyptians? God gave them instructions for a special meal of a lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread; God said this meal is to be eaten before the exodus and “when you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you? Then tell them, ‘it is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord” (Exodus 12:25-27).

Fast-forward to the night Jesus was arrested. Earlier that evening Jesus was celebrating the Passover with his disciples. By this time it has been over 1,000 years since the first Passover and it is still being celebrated. This time, Jesus also takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and says “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22: 19) Taking the cup, Jesus says “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).

Jesus instructs us to continue taking the cup and breaking the bread in remembrance of him. With that same cup he makes a covenant with his people. We are God’s people, still needing to be reminded of what He has done. As we remember His sacrifice, his blood poured out for us, we also remember the new life that comes from that sacrifice.

In Luke 24 we see the women looking for Jesus in the tomb. The angels say to them “Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words” (Luke 24:5-8).

We so easily forget what God has done, the things that Jesus has said, and God’s plan of salvation laid out in the Bible. Let us remember this Holy Week what Jesus has done!

May remembrance lead to obedience as we prepare to share this good news with campers! We have the incredible opportunity to respond to God’s instruction to keep teaching what He has done. Some campers may not know about Jesus, other campers may need the reminder (as we all do).

I look forward to continuing through this devotion with all of you so that as we read God’s word we may come to learn and remember what God has done and prepare for how God is going to move on the water this summer because of His faithfulness!