TRYING TO REMEMBER

I Was Just Thinking About – TRYING TO REMEMBER.

A feature song from the musical comedy – The Fantasticks – is "Try To Remember". The song is about one’s journey through the seasons of life. The lyrics refresh one’s memory to think about “when grass was green and grain was yellow…when life was slow and mellow…when no one wept…Deep in December it’s nice to remember without the hurt the heart is hollow.” Each stanza of the song closes with the appeal to one’s heart to “remember and follow.”

There is the humorous poem that indicates:

My forgetter's getting better

But my rememberer is broke

To you that may seem funny

But, to me, that is no joke.

For when I'm 'here' I'm wondering

If I really should be 'there'

And, when I try to think it through,

I haven't got a prayer!

In a more serious and spiritual sense, it appears that too often one’s “forgetter’s getting better and one’s rememberer is broke.” This morning I was reading Psalm 103 and it struck me how easily one can forget the compassion of the Lord and His many benefits granted to Hs people. For me, it was like a cement-block falling on my head. How could I – how dare I – forget the words of Psalm 103:1-5 (ESV),

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

I am both ashamed and chagrined (disappointed & humiliated) when I think of how often I fail to remember these and other passages of Scripture that remind one of the ongoing and continual care of the Heavenly Father for His children in all generations. In Second Peter 1:3-4, there is another reminder:

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature…”

I don’t know how it is for you, but I believe we need to work on repairing both our “forgetter and rememberer” lest we get lost in the weeds of fear and doubt. A song of one’s heart should continual be “Our God Is An Awesome God” and “Our God Is Able To Deliver Us” by His power and grace. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, should we not make the application from the secular song, “If you remember – then – Follow, Follow, Follow”? Our answer should be an emphatic YES - by God’s grace we will.

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.