“Remember,” the most frequent Old Testament command

This must be one of the saddest passages in the Bible:

They believed His words;

They sang His praise.

They soon forgot His works….

Psalm 106:12-13, NKJV

“Many churches have forgotten the premium

that the historic Judeo-Christian tradition placed on remembrance

…and recalling the right things.

The ‘great sin’ of the Old Testament

was forgetfulness

(at least it is the most recurrent offense).

‘Remember’ is the most frequent command

in the Old Testament.”

(Clapham Memo, January 19, 2007,

“Back and Forth,” by Mike Metzger; emphasis mine)

“Remembering requires intentionality,” writes the Christian Grandparenting Network. “It is the constant warning of prophets and patriarchs...‘do not forget,’ ‘remember!’ Why? Because we are so prone to wander and forget who God is and what He has done in the past. And that has devastating consequences.

“Janet Thompson, author of Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, says, ‘If we don’t remember what God already has done, we won’t believe what he is capable of doing in the future. Memory builds faith…. Most [believers] don’t intentionally forget God, they just don’t try hard enough to remember him.’

Christian Grandparenting Network continues, “God knew that if we didn’t make the effort to remember, it would take only one generation who forgets the goodness and greatness of God to completely make God irrelevant in the next generation….

“One of the key roles God has given to grandparents is that of ‘storyteller.’ We are to be, not only the repositories of family and faith history, but the tellers of those histories. The Psalmist declared, ‘Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come’ (Psalm 7:18)….”

God has been involved in

your family’s life in countless ways.

Have you forgotten some of them?

What stories do you need to remember?

Remembering them will build your faith

and increase your trust in God for the future!

Make a commitment:

Schedule time to write those stories

and place them in the hands of

your kids, grandkids, and great-grands.

Why?

Because God can use your stories

to build their faith

and increase their trust in God for the future!

Yours is a sacred calling.

Enjoy it!