NEVER FORGET!
Good Morning! Today I wanted to quickly share a passage of Scripture that has been on my mind continually. It has been a passage that I have been chewing on over and over again. For some of you, you may be familiar with an analogy of a cow chewing on their cud. If you are not familiar with this I will summarize it for you. In order to have the proper nutrition, a cow will chew its food, swallow it down into the first stomach and bring it back up again, in order to chew on it some more, swallow it back down and bring it up yet again. They repeat this process many times before finally moving the food on. This is a great way to think about Meditating on God’s Word! This analogy is true for a couple of reasons. The first is that the way a cow chews its food in order to get the most out of their nutrition is a slow process! Sometimes, to get the most out of our study of the Bible, we need to SLOW DOWN!!! We often read or skim scripture so fast that we miss the bulk of the spiritual nutrition that is being offered to us! Another reason Meditating is so much like a cow chewing their cud is that to meditate means to “murmur about a thing, to speak about it to yourself or to others, to converse about it.” In other words, if we want to meditate on God’s Word, we’ve got to bring it back up!! We’ve got to talk about it!! Do you know why? Scientifically speaking, we only remember what we refer to often! We have to continually tell our brains that we need to retain that piece of information! If we do not go back to these things often enough, the scrubbing neurons in our brains will scrub our minds free of those things we had wanted to remember, all because of a Lack Of Use! I was reading a study today that tells us the average American will forget over 80% of what they have learned in a day! While there may be things in this life we want to forget, there are certain things we are called to never forget!! The passage of Scripture that I have been meditating on this week comes from Deuteronomy chapter 4. It says this, “But Watch Out! Be careful to NEVER FORGET what YOU YOURSELF have SEEN (God do). Do NOT let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! Be sure to pass them on to your children and your children’s children!” (Deut. 4:9) I have not been able to shake the importance of this passage! In fact, this was the very first passage that God laid on my heart as soon as I returned from Uganda! I felt as if He was speaking this directly to me, telling me to NEVER forget the incredible, miraculous acts I have seen God do in my life, and in the lives around me! We are Commanded to REMEMBER!! Now it is interesting to me how closely “Remembering” and “Meditating” are to each other. To Remember means to “Mention!” Isn’t that enlightening in and of itself? How do we Remember?? We TALK about it!! We murmur, speak out, and converse with ourselves and others about it. The only way to Remember is to bring it up time and time again! The Israelites did this by erecting a memorial stone named Ebenezer to remind them about the Mighty things God had done for them. The Psalmist helped the people through writing songs of remembrance, bringing back to their mind constantly what they had seen God do! Just like the Israelites, when we Remember what we ourselves have seen God do it continues to build up our faith! When we Forget what God has done, our faith falters! I want to call us today to REMEMBER what WE OURSELVES have SEEN God do in our lives and in the lives around us!! When hard times come, which we know they will, Remembering will give us the courage to move forward in Faith, knowing who our God is and what He can do!! When we are enjoying the Good times in life, Remembering will give us the humility we need to continue to Exalt God and walk humbly before Him, not looking to our own strength, but relying on HIS!! Remembering is so vitally important, and without diligently bringing back up what God has done, we fall prey to our weak memories and quickly forget!! We have seen that the best way to both Meditate and Remember is to TALK about it, to bring it up, and if you have children the Bible tells us to start talking about it there!! Pass on what you have seen God do to your Children and your Grandchildren! If you do not have kids, talk about what God has done with anyone God places around you! Let all those times you have seen God take something that looked utterly impossible and turn it into a complete miracle feed you! Take those memories in, swallow them down to your soul, let them nourish YOU, then BRING THEM BACK UP AGAIN, and share that nourishment with someone else! Repeat this process often and you will see your faith Grow and become Rooted and Established! Remembering what God has Done in the past gives us the courage to face the Present! I want to challenge us to remember, share, and meditate this week on at least ONE thing you have seen God do in your life. Bring it up and Pass it on!! Remembering Replenishes our Faith!! Let’s be people who Never Forget what our God has done! He has BROUGHT YOU to THIS DAY!!
Scriptures to Meditate on:
Deut. 4:9, 1 Samuel 7:10-12, Psalm 78:2-4