The Significance Of Remembering

One of the most valuable things mankind does is slow down and remember.

We remember where we came from and use it to guide us. We remember the progress and use it to encourage us. We remember the tragedy faced and use it as motivation to set a new course.

Earlier this month I went to a location dedicated to remembering: The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. While there, I remembered the lives lost during the bombing and mourned for them. I remembered how important counterterrorism efforts are. I remembered how inherently evil we are as humans, but how beautiful it is to see a country pull together in the face of adversity.

 

 

Slowing down to remember is good for the heart and soul, even if remembering something as horrifying as 168 lives lost. We were wired to look back. We were made by a Maker who calls us to remember.

As I’ve been reading through the Old Testament this year, I have been struck by how many times God tells His people to slow and remember. The concept is painted all over Scripture. God says in Isaiah 46:8-9,

 

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me…”

 

If we don’t actively remember, we forget. If we don’t take time to dwell on the things of the past, we cease to see them as significant.

Remembrance is so powerful because it reminds us of truth, it reminds us of all the promises God has fulfilled and what He says is to come. As urgent as remembering the history of humanity is, even more crucial is remembering it in the light of who God is and the story He is telling.

Slow down. Open Scripture. Take time. Remember the LORD your God. He has done great things. He is worthy of praise.