Remember (By Dan Adams)

Memory is a powerful gift from God. We’re able to recall facts, figures, and past events instantly if we want to. We have the mental ability to relive some of our favorite moments. Walks down memory lane transport us back to times and places we enjoy revisiting. I love to remember the events of May 26, 2001, when I married my wife.
    
Our memories can be funny and fickle things at times, too. I have phone numbers and Bible verses committed to memory. And yet I consistently forget to grab my coffee or lunch from the kitchen countertop when I leave for work.
 
Sometimes our memories take us by surprise, triggered by some outside stimulus. Just the other day I smelled someone popping popcorn, and I was immediately mentally back in the movie theater with my family the last time we went to see a film together. And yet for the life of me, I can’t remember what movie we saw.
 
Our memories are a real gift from God. But He also knew we’d need reminders along the way – reminders of some of the most important things. This past Sunday was one of those reminders for our church family: Communion Sunday. In each of our services we gathered around the communion table to remember Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. It’s good to remember.
 
Jesus gave us these very real and familiar reminders, so that we wouldn’t forget His love for us. At the last supper, He said to His followers:
 
This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:24)
    
This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:25)
    
Of all of the things that our Savior could ask us to remember, He reminds us of His great love, His powerful sacrifice, and our forgiveness in Him.
 
But memories are funny and fickle things. Sometimes, instead of His sacrifice and forgiveness, I remember my guilt and shame. It’s in these moments that I need another reminder. A reminder of what Christ chooses not to remember.
 
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. (Hebrews 8:12)
    
I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. (Hebrews 10:17)
    
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:10-12)
    
For those of us who have confessed our sins to Christ, trusting Him for forgiveness and salvation, we don’t need to hold on to the burden of guilt and shame. Instead, we get to remember Christ, and His great love for us!
 
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)