The Importance of Remembering

God knows His people are prone to forgetfulness.

God knows His people are prone to forgetfulness. “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren.” Deuteronomy 4:9

God knows His people are prone to forgetfulness. “Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 4:23-24

God knows His people are prone to forgetfulness. “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build… then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” Deuteronomy 6:10-12

God established memorials for His people, giving them occasions to remember. The rainbow (Gen. 9:11-17). The Passover feast (Ex. 12:14). The pot of manna (Ex. 16:32-34). The memorial stones (Joshua 4:5-7, 21-24).

The Problem: God’s people did not remember.

The Problem: God’s people did not remember. “So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel… When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals.” Judges 2:7, 10-11

The Problem: God’s people did not remember. “So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god. Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.” Judges 8:33-34

The Problem: God’s people did not remember. “They did not remember His power: the day when He redeemed them from the enemy” (Psalm 78:42). “They refused to obey, and they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage…” (Neh. 9:17).

We have the same problem: God’s people do not remember. We need to remember the powerful works of our God. We need to remember the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord (1 Cor. 11:24-25). But we also need to remember the efforts, battles, and sacrifices made by the previous generations of the church today.