Two verses stuck to my heart as I read this morning.
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them (9).
Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time (40).
Remember and obey… teach the younger generation to remember and obey as well.
It is so easy to forget what God has done in the past. At least for me remembering takes effort. I live very much in the moment. I don’t necessarily dream a lot about the future and when it comes to the past, I am more of a sieve rather than a bank vault. I have to take time to recall and remember. I have to make it a point to remember. Maybe this is why Moses’ words strike so close to the heart.
Remember and teach… tell the young ones the story of God’s exploits, what He has done, and what He has said. Teaching and telling others helps remembering, too. The more I teach and tell, the more the stories of faith get branded into my memory.
My wife and I have a tradition of writing a yearly letter, usually around Christmas/New Year, where we recount the things we have done that year. Very naturally God shows up in that letter because God is the major component of our lives. It is not as if we set out to write about what God did during year, but that certainly comes through. We send this letter to family and friends and we keep a copy for ourselves. Every so often I look through these memoirs of life and my heart is bolstered as I remember the many ways God brought goodness and His presence into my (our) life. These letters are not exactly what Moses was speaking about, but in these letters I can see the wisdom of God in the teachings Moses gave.
Remember… remember so that you obey. God’s Word to me today.
Lord, thank You for the gift of memory. The ability to store and recall events, feelings, emotions and facts. Lord, may I use my memory for good, to remember the ways You have touched my life and the lives of people I know. May I use my memory to store Your Word and Your teachings so that I can recall what You have said as I walk the journey of life.
Bless You, God, for the gift of memory when it is used for good and to spur me on to love and good deeds. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment