I have a confession.  Left to my own resolve I rush.  This causes me to miss so much and forget so easily.  There are those moments that I will never forget, images carved into my memory.  I’ll always remember a huge fight my parents had when I was about four. I can’t forget the smell of my grandfather’s woodshop. The first time I kissed my wife or touched of her hand will always been dear.  I won’t forget how beautiful she was on our wedding day.  And the moment my daughter was born is treasured.

I find remembering the special moments easy, but how about the bad?  The entire Bible is full of those remember commands.  It was the specific command God passed down to Israel through Moses. “Don’t ever forget that you were slaves in Egypt and God, your God, got you out of there in a powerful show of strength.  That’s why God, your God, commands you to observe the day of Sabbath rest (Deuteronomy 5.14-15).” 

I forget. I try to remember but when you have a garage with two cars tucked away inside, bedrooms for everyone including your desktop Dell, and running water in overflow – one forgets.  Maybe that is why the Agur (Proverbs 30) wrote asking that God give him neither poverty nor riches, but only his daily bread. Otherwise, he may have too much and forget God or may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of God.

It’s hard to remember.  We don’t want to remember the pain, life’s sting, and unwarranted grief.  It’s even harder to remember the past when it wasn’t your own.  The command to remember was equally directed toward future generations of Israel who would enjoy the suffering of their ancestors.  

I believe that the command to never forget is central to the gospel.  It’s central to how we interact with our world, “such were some of you” (1 Corinthians 6.11). So today take a moment to sit still, allow the hush to engulf you, and think back to who you were.  Think what Christ removed you from, delivered you to, and continues to promise.  To fellowship with Christ is not to forget the past, but to remember it; because it there that Jesus sat you free.