Remembering!

September 5th, 2015| Topic: RaMbLeS | 8

Well, folks, here it is: RaMbLeS installment #524. Magic number. Ten years of rambling thoughts on random Scripture. Dispatches from Plano, Dallas, Paris, Aberdeen, London, Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Rome, Florence, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Jerusalem, Madrid, New Delhi, …. A long ramble, indeed.

It all began when I was heading out to ye olde city of Aberdeen in 2005 for doctoral work. Intended as a platform to update well-wishers of my academic antics and prayer requests, that weekly update has now morphed into a weekly devotional.

(And, thus far, I have successfully managed to post every single Sunday—mostly, late Saturday—all this past decade.)

I appreciate all who have stayed with me throughout this 10-year ramble. And I am thankful I’ve made it up to #524 successfully.

Doing RaMbLeS has compelled me weekly to examine closely what’s going on around me. God is everywhere and in everything, omnipresent that He is. And it’s been great, having to look for God’s workings and doings and sayings in Scripture, and to connect them with his handiwork in the world, in my life, in my circumstances. It’s becoming a habit and—for a change!—a good habit at that: reflective living.

I’ve often felt that one of the gaping holes in our lives is the lack of reflection. Too busy, we all are, with stuff going on all day, all week, all year. And before we know it, time has slipped by, age has caught up, weariness has set in, and there it is finally—an unexamined, unreflective life.

God warned His people over and over again about this. Reflection and remembrance was to be part of their lifestyle.

Remember the days of old,
consider the years of all generations.
Ask your father,
and he will inform you,
your elders, and they will tell you.
Deuteronomy 32:7

Reflect on the deliverance of God.

You shall remember that
you were a slave in the land of Egypt,
and the LORD your God
brought you out of there
by a mighty hand and
by an outstretched arm.
Deuteronomy 5:15

Reflect on the power of God, so as to be able to face the dread of the future.

… you shall not be afraid of them;
you shall well remember
what the LORD your God did
to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.
Deuteronomy 7:18

Remember, that we may remain faithful.

Beware that you do not forget
the LORD your God by
not keeping His commandments …
Deuteronomy 8:11

Reflect on the discipline of God, that we may not fall again.

Remember, do not forget
how you provoked the LORD your God
to wrath in the wilderness ….
Deuteronomy 9:7

Reflect on the mercy of God, that we may be merciful to others.

You shall remember
that you were a slave
in the land of Egypt,
and the LORD your God redeemed you;
therefore I command you this today.
Deuteronomy 15:15

And then, God’s people beseech Him not to forget, that he may remember His promises and deal graciously with them.

Remember Your servants,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;
do not look at the stubbornness
of this people or at their wickedness
or their sin.
Deuteronomy 9:27

And, thankfully, ours is a God who never forgets.

For the LORD your God is
a compassionate God;
He will not fail you nor destroy you
nor forget the covenant with your fathers
which He swore to them.
Deuteronomy 4:31

What a relief—he doesn’t forget. The One who gave his Son for us always remembers. So must we. Live reflectively.

Socrates was right:

The unexamined life is not worth living.”