Remembering

I have been a Christian now for over 25 years. I have craved and devoured the Word like it was literally food and water. I have dedicated my life, my marriage, my family, and my home to serving and loving the Savior of my soul. When I finish reading through the Bible, I flip the well-worn pages backwards and start at the beginning…again.

Over and over again I do this. Over and over again I need the reminding. Each year, each season, each moment.

I need the reminding because regardless of how much I know to be true or how many scriptures I commit to my heart, I am still a forgetful woman. Still…

All throughout scripture and the unfolding story of our salvation, you witness a “repeating” of Truth and the Promises of God – His standards and Law, of our desperate need for a Savior, for Hope to come, and how much He loves and is in pursuit of us.

Anyone who has attempted to commit something to memory knows that the key to remembering well is to repeat it often. Our brains are hardwired to best remember things that frequently pass through our mind–names of people we just met (repeating them back to the person to lock it into our brain), important dates (reminders on our phone), and even weekly meal plans (I write mine down so I don’t forget to put the meat out to thaw the night before).

Yes, in many areas of life, we all need a little help remembering what is coming and what is important.

We do this so we don’t forget. We repeat because we want to remember.

So, it is no surprise that Jesus asked us to be deliberate in “remembering” Him. Knowing full well the weight of what He was about to do on our behalf, and that, in our flesh and waywardness, we would desperately need the reminder.

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Luke 22:19

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:26

Earlier I said that I have been a Christian for over 25 years. True statement. But I gotta confess that only recently has communion begun to take on a deeply significant meaning for me.

I mean, I always recognized the importance of communion and what it signified and I have always been profoundly grateful for it. However, the Lord has been showing me just how much communion has to do with remembering He is working–delivering, healing, restoring, redeeming…still.

Yes, His work of redemption was finished on the cross, but the process of making me more like Him and teaching me to run my race with His focus in mind is still unfolding. Yours is, too, you know?

What He has done is worth remembering…but so is remembering to praise Him for what He has yet to do.

We can remember His goodness – that has been and will continue to be.

We can remember His faithfulness – that has been and will continue to be.

We can remember His joy and our hope – that has been and will continue to be.

When I first heard this song, my heart was deeply stirred. It communicates this very “remembering” and the process and joy of discovering it. I pray that as you listen, you will draw near to the One who has redeemed you and is redeeming you still. Oh what a Savior! The song is entitled, “Remembrance,” from Hillsong United.

With joy for the journey,

Sarah