Remember me??

"Remember me". Those words appear next to a checkbox on many of the sites I regularly log into ... including Blogger! It's a handy way to give permission for the site to communicate with my computer and save me entering all my login information on the next trip. But when I go to a new computer, or sometimes even go to the site again on my laptop after an extended time period from the previous visit, I'm prompted once again to let the website know whether to remember me.

I've decided that these websites are like mankind - fickle. They forget me so easily! They remind me of how we are so often with God - forgetful of His benefits, of His sacrifice, of the grace in which we stand. All the while, crying out to Him as if He has forgotten us. "Remember me Lord??" we cry... but we really have the question backwards.

God promises to remember us. He told Israel in Isa. 49:14-16:

"Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me, the sovereign master has forgotten me.’ Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you! Look, I have inscribed your name on my palms; your walls are constantly before me."

Lest we think this doesn't apply to us, recall that God said what was written before was written for us - it's an example and a revelation of God! Jesus reassured the thief on the cross that He would "remember" him when He came into His kingdom - that very day in Paradise! He consistently speaks with a longing and love that leave no doubt that He is fully and completely actively remembering us!

And yet knowing our humanity, He knows that we have weaknesses in this area. Research tells us that if we don't actively remember something, we forget - it's our brains' default! (Probably post-Fall, but that's a whole other subject.) No wonder He tells us to renew our minds. And He even gives us guidance as to how. We are told that through taking the bread and drinking the cup, we remember His death until He comes (1 Cor. 11:23-26). Communion, Eucharist, Lord's Supper -whatever you call it - is the "active remembering" of His death.

It is this need for "active remembering" that the church reflects in its traditions of Lent and Advent. Both seasons intentionally focus on significant events in redemptive history, drawing us back to the foundations of our faith. They are designed to counteract our fallen forgetfulness.

What do you need to actively remember about God today? What aspect of His character have you forgotten in the daily struggles of life? Seek His Word and His character ... remember Him!