Do You Remember...?

I'm starting to forget things.

Like where I left the keys. Or who sings that song.

Nothing major, but I've always relied on my memory. Even prided myself on being able to remember things. And I don't like not remembering.

I don't know if it's a function of getting older or the amount of information that is constantly rolling around in my mind pushing aside other memories. But I realize that I must make a greater effort to hold onto the memories that are important to me.

But maybe that is a good thing.

I've recently been reading through I Corinthians with my kids. And just this week we have been studying chapter 10 where Paul encourages the Corinthian church to remember some things. He starts out reminding them of how the Israelites were punished and sometimes destroyed while they were wandering around in the desert searching for the Promised Land because they worshiped false idols and disobeyed God and grumbled.

He even says that these things are recorded in Exodus & Numbers so we will have an example to NOT follow!

He then goes on to remind them of how drinking of the blessed cup and eating of the blessed bread is to remind us of how Christ died for our sins and made a way for us to have a renewed relationship with Him.

So you have good memories and bad memories. Both of which are to keep us focused and on track.

As I talked to my kids about this, I saw some variance in responses. My daughter Shiloh said that when she remembers that Jesus died on the cross for us, it makes her cry. But she went on to say they were tears of joy because it makes her realize how much God really loves us!

That is a proud father moment, let me tell you!

My son Ethan, on the other hand, while we were reading and discussing these truths, was having a tough time because we were doing it in the morning...

and he is not a morning person!

"Everything" in his mind was going wrong. Life was unfair because he had to get out of bed. Mom was a cruel task-master because she had made him put on clothes. His sister was a heartless antagonist because she had walked over him as he lay in the floor in rebellion against getting up. His brother was an extreme annoyance because he was hitting him in the head trying to get him to play. His father was an unbending authoritarian because he was trying to get him to answer a couple of questions about the scripture we were reading.

Life was not going his way.

So we talked about how we need to remember that we live in a comfortable house and have warm clothes to wear and that we have a family that loves us and a God who loves us even more. And I told him that when our feelings don't match the truth of our circumstances we need to remember those things and that it affords us a choice. Ethan can choose today to remember the truths of his life and have a crazy-awesome, positive-focused day. Or he can choose to forget the blessings of the God who loves him and have a miserable day.

And we each have that choice. So today, what is it that you need to remember?

God bless & Peace.