Throughout Scripture God called his people to memorialize his mighty acts of deliverance by prescribing a variety of remembrances. Why? We’ve got a memory problem, that’s why! We tend to get fuzzy on the important things we ought to be very clear about. So God calls us to a very holy practice: the spiritual discipline of remembering.

The Journey // Focus: Exodus 12:14

This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.

I have always been intrigued with how many times throughout Scripture God called his people to remember his mighty acts of deliverance by prescribing various kinds of memorials for them. In some cases, the memorial was an altar of remembrance (Joshua 4:1-7), at other times it involved the symbolism of the priestly garments (Exodus 28:12), sometimes it was to happen through a regular sacrifice (Leviticus 2:16), a festival (Numbers 10:10), or a high, holy day (Exodus 12:14) Most importantly, for the New Testament community, the regular observance of Holy Communion (I Corinthians 11:23-26) replaced all other official observances that were mnemonically related.

Apparently, God was concerned that his people would remember who he is, what he had done for them, and why he had called them to specific acts of remembrance. Why the concern? We’ve got a memory problem, that’s why! We tend to get fuzzy on the important things we ought to be very clear about.

People forget the covenant promise to be faithful to their spouse and begin to drift in their marriage. Parents forget how much their kids need both mom and a dad and follow their selfish desires by pursuing divorce…at a horrible cost to their children. We get sidetracked from our primary purposes in life because we fail to remember our core values. We drift spiritually because we get busy with spiritual-sounding activities, but forget to love the Lord.

That’s why Jesus said remember: “Remember your first love…remember the heights from which you have fallen and return…remember, every time you do this, my blood, my body. Remember.” Over and over the Bible calls us to remember lest we forget. You can’t read too far into God’s Word before noticing that a strong theology of remembrance is woven into the fabric of the chosen community.

God understood the power of memory and how visible representations would evoke powerful emotions that would reconnect us to defining events in our lives. He knew how symbols of memory could arrest our tendency to drift spiritually and refocus us on the core experience of loving him—that’s why he instituted the Passover in the Old Testament and replaced it with Holy Communion in the New.

God doesn’t want us to forget him. Just remember that—a lot.

Going Deeper: The next time you partake of the Lord’s Table with your spiritual community, make a special and strategic effort to remember what the communion represents: the mightiest act of God ever expressed—the sacrifice of his Son on the cross. Call to mind God’s grace and mercy, and express heartfelt gratitude for his gift. And then consider what such wondrous love now demands of you. And don’t forget!

“ As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done. —HENRY B. EYRING