Remember Well

Aren't we thankful for memories? Of course, not all memories are good ones but [I suggest] the capacity to call-up times past is a gift. Whether it's simply remembering the ingredients of a recipe or a familiar face, shared times with family and friends or the taste of Nanny's Christmas fudge, memories are precious treasures. In Lamentations 3, Jeremiah paints a grim picture of life: affliction, brokenness, darkness, mangled, helpless, mocked, trampled, deprived (Verses 2-17); then, he sums his feelings as "my splendor is gone ... my soul is downcast" (V.18, 20). I suspect we all can relate to such times in our lives. The prophet goes on to say "I remember ... I well remember" (V.19-20); like him, we often can't get-past the misery. I'm so glad Jeremiah doesn't stop there - he leads us around the spiritual corner: "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail." (V.21-22). The call-to-mind is a spiritual discipline - a deliberate act of personal will to remember ... remember there is indeed hope found in The Lord! Now, Satan will have us remain in the dark and hopeless places, even cause us to lapses in memory. "The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to those who seek Him" (V.26). The pathway from hopelessness to genuine Hope, that confident expectation, is found only in Christ. We are wise to ... remember well.