Called To Remember

All throughout the bible God tells us that he is a God that remembers his promises.

How many of them can you remember?

Here are a few scriptures that tell and remind us that God remembers his promises:

 I will remember my covenant with you (Noah) and with all living creatures~Genesis 9:15

 ...he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob~Exodus 2:23-25

Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.~ Exodus 6:5

For their sakes I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, ...that I might be their God. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 26:44

 God is not a man, so he does not lie.
    He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
    Has he ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19

Since we know that God does not forget his promises, what does he expect of us? Does the Lord ask something of his children? What does he require of us? Why does the Lord ask us to remember and what should we do to remember? 

 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. We will use these stones to build a memorial. Joshua 4:4-6

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord. When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the Lord your God!”. Numbers 15:38

 

 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’  Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’  For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over.  He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua 4:21-24

Stones of remembrance... 

We are to set up reminders that will last from generation to generation. So, what do you tell your children? What is your reply? How do you answer them? What are your "stones of remembrance?". Are your children asking questions? What questions are your children asking? If they are not asking now God tells us they will.

 

God wants us to set up reminders so that we do not do what we are prone to do...follow our own desires and defile ourselves. If we still live in the body of flesh we are still prone to the desires of the flesh. Our children are prone to the same desires. Why? They live in the flesh just like mom and dad. Even if we, take them to church every Sunday or they say the "sinners prayer" or we have family devotions every day or we are baptized or are home schooling or we are isolated on a 100 hundred acre farm or don't have a TV. The list goes on and on.

Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”  

Genesis 4:7

More often than not, when we look at the past we want to forget the sin that had us bound, but by doing this we rob ourselves and our children of the awe and wonder of God's power...

and we rob God of his due glory in our lives.

Isn't that the truth when things are hard? When we are discouraged? When we allow Satan's age old lies to fill our thoughts. We look back at the days of our slavery but instead of remembering our deliverance we want to forget the misery of being a slave not realizing we are robbing God of his due glory and honor. We want to forget or live like those things never happened. So without realizing it we are saying to ourselves and our children, I am "good" and I have always been this way, you should be this way too. At the very least that is the message we are sending, even if we do not want this to be true.

Now , I don't mean to say we should live as if our past defines us. Or as if we have not been given a new identity.

 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17

The Israelites were able to begin a new life in the promised but but they were commanded to remember the past.

 

I also do not mean to say we have to  start wearing tassels on the hems of our clothing or piling stones (though I like the idea) but what I am asking you to consider is, what are you setting up to arouse the curiosity in your children? What are you doing to remember? What will your children be able to tell their children, your grandchildren, of the Lord's deliverance? What did you see and experience?

If you grew up in a christian home your parents deliverance is part of your testimony and your past just like it was for the Israelites. It is God's desire that the deliverance that began with your parents or grandparents, whatever the case may be, continues with you! It has not ended with your parents it continues with you until the day we have reached our eternal promised land that will be lit up by God himself. You are just as prone to the lust of the eyes and the desires of the flesh because you live in the same imperfect flesh with the same sinful nature. By the grace and mercy of God in your life the taming of your flesh began at a young age but if your parents had not restrained you, you would be no different then the rest of the people in this world that walk in darkness. Be honest with yourself and test yourself to see whether or not you are in the faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5

God remembers the promises he makes to us. We must remember the deliverance he has given us or we (us and our children) will "follow our own desires as we are prone to do". We like to remind him of the promises he has made to us and claim them but do we do what he requires and commands us to do... remember how and what the Lord has delivered us from.

In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.

Exodus 20:24