We all have them. Memories. The turning points. The images that project in our head in black and white or sepia-gold. A branching point. The moment everything changed, and we wondered if we could ever be the same again.
Fast forward a handful of years. That memory reel is a little fuzzy now. Once, we encountered Jesus and the power of the Gospel, but now we’re struggling to string together everything that happened after that. A whirlwind of academia, romance, career, children, loss and heartbreak. Finally we touch down and we’re not in Kansas anymore. Everything is strange, fuzzy and foreign. Where’s the path we started on? Where did we lose our way?
In the crime drama, “Memento”, the fictitious character, “Leonard” struggles with the clouded memory of his wife’s vicious assault, as a result of an injury to the head. His short-term memory loss erases each previous day. So, he starts each day anew. Leonard agonizes over the investigation of the murder of his wife and finding the man responsible.
His cheap motel room is littered with polaroids. These reminders resemble his fractured memory. His arms have since been permanently inked with forget-me-nots. Every day he enters the mid-day sun after a careful review of what he knows to be true. As Leonard comes closer to discovering his wife’s killer, he must piece together the mystery each and every day.
Is that the experience of today’s disciple? Do we suffer from gospel amnesia?
Lately, this tiny verse has been rolling around my mind:
“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits”
Psalm 103v2
It became pretty clear to me how often we forget God. Forget the authority of Jesus in our lives. How often our hearts harden and shut themselves up. Worst of all, how we forget the benefits of the Gospel and our relationship with Jesus.
It’s not so simple to just know God and enjoy Him forever. Why? Sin.
Sin bewitches our hearts like amnesia fogs up the mind. It gets into the very center of who we are. What is obscured in the head can become the habit of our hearts. It steals our joy, twists our desires, distorts our emotions and most of all pushes out the Truth.
So how do we resist evil, keep our hearts soft, stay in awe of Jesus and enjoy what the Holy Spirit began in us that precious day when we first believed? It is my argument that a major discipline of today’s follower of Jesus is commemoration. Remember the cross, where Jesus was broken and bleeding, for you. Remember He was DECIMATED for us and that He OBLITERATED sin and death. Once and for all. Remember that He did it because He loves you. And remember that, above all He wants your heart.
So meditate on His words, feast on the Truth found in the biblical story, chew on it day and night. Push out all distractions. Paste His praise and benefits on your walls, sharpie them on your arms, but most of all -make these precious memories the centerpiece of your heart.
Forgetfulness is the insidious weapon in the hands of the enemy of your soul. Remind yourself of the Gospel, daily.
Remember. Remember. Remember
Grace & Peace
M
micahemerson.ca 