The Importance of Remembering

I have a good friend with an amazing ability to slip simple biblical truth into everyday conversations. It’s something I’ve always admired about her. She does it in passing, like you’d mention wanting new dish towels or appreciating a freshly scented candle. But for those paying attention, her references serve as mini-sermons packed with life application.

Fortunately, I was paying attention as this friend and I visited an antique shop in Leiper’s Fork, TN. While perusing the shop, I stopped to admire these smooth polished stones, and she mentioned how they reminded her of the remembrance stones she’d read about in the Bible. She must have sensed my interest as she continued to explain how it was important to have something tangible to remind you of significant events and meaningful experiences or to commemorate major relational or personal growth.

This idea really resonated with me, and so before we left the shop, we both bought one of those stones to serve as a reminder of our weekend together all those years ago.

Since then, I’ve continued to reflect on the practice of remembrance and the power of marking those significant life moments. We see its importance throughout Scripture in the story of the Israelites. In Deuteronomy, Moses urges them to remember God’s faithfulness every day as they share it with their children. When Joshua took over and led the Israelites across the Jordan, he instructed them to take stones from the riverbed and build an altar to remember God. The observance of Passover served to remind them how God delivered them from Egypt and Pharoah’s rule. The practice of remembrance was vital to building and sustaining their faith in God.

As Jesus-followers today, the same is true for us. This month, as I’ve studied Deuteronomy and walked through this month’s journal prompts, I’ve been continually reminded of how remembering God’s past faithfulness helps build my faith today. When we take the time to look for it, it’s not hard to see how God’s hand moves in our lives. The key is to reflect on it, write it down, share it with someone, or mark it somehow, so we never forget that moment in our story. And as we do, we’ll begin to see God’s ever-present faithfulness as He shapes us and molds us through our past situations and experiences.

Question: Is there a significant moment you haven’t properly commemorated? Take time this weekend to reflect on it and then mark it in some way, so its impact stays with you.

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