15 April

There are some things that are important for societies as a whole not to forget. All over the world, we see war memorials with the names of those who have died for their country. Often in Britain these memorials feature the words ‘Lest We Forget’. As George Santayana said, ‘Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.’ 

We do have some control over our memory. There are some things we are told in the Bible to ‘forget’. There are other things we are repeatedly called to ‘remember’. You can make choices about what you choose to ‘forget’ and what you choose to ‘remember’.

The word ‘remember’ in its various Hebrew and Greek forms occurs over 250 times in the Bible. It is so easy to forget all that God has done for you. It is important to look back at your own life as well as the history of the church, both local and global, to remember all that God has done.

At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the service of communion so that we would not forget the central events of world history – the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

It is this faith that leads to humility. Whatever you do in service of God, you can never put God in your debt. Everything we do is simply out of gratitude for what he has done for us. All we can say, at the end of the day, is, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty’ (v.10).

Faith is a muscle that grows by stretching. One of the ways we increase your faith is by doing something God asks you to do.

If you want to avoid hearing those haunting words, ‘Son, remember...’ in the future, now is the time to respond in repentance, put your faith in Jesus and live out your faith, especially in your response to the poor.