It’s not unusual for me to walk into a room and forget what I was looking for. It’s also not unusual for me to take a few days or even a week to return a missed message. Birthdays, events, questions, and meals have all found themselves on my “forgotten” list. Although some areas of forgetfulness need sanctification, there’s an underlying reality that we can’t fully escape––we are a forgetful people.
The average American creates routines, lists, agendas, and schedules to remember all that needs to be done, said, fixed, purchased, etc. The wall calendar itself brings the U.S roughly $680 million a year.
Interestingly, one of the most frequent imperatives in the Bible is to “remember.” We are told to remember God (Psalm 119:55), what God has done (Isaiah 46:9), his commands (Deut. 8:1–2), his wrath (2 Peter 3:2–3), etc.
As the New Year dawns and we begin another round of planning, I wonder if there’s an underutilized power in remembrance. In just a brief survey of passages, Scripture shows us how remembering leads to repentance, joy, and hope.
Remembering Leads to Repentance
Have you ever been on the road somewhere, only to realize you’re going the wrong way? You quickly log into GPS and adjust your route. We see a similar “course correction” in Scripture. In the Gospels, Jesus warns Peter that he will deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows. In Luke 22 it says, “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly” (vv. 61–63).
Remembering the words of Jesus led Peter to conviction and repentance. We too, like Peter, have moments in our day where the denial of our faith feels easier, where boldness in a hostile environment seems daunting and we ask “is it really a big deal?”, convincing ourselves that it’s not the right time to proclaim the person and work of Jesus whether by deed or speech.
But, like Peter, remembering the words of our Lord ought to convict us, turning us from the path of disobedience. And that’s because Scripture is the primary tool the Holy Spirit uses to cut through our blindness. Remembering the word of the Lord is likened to living by the nutrients of that Word (Matt. 4:4). We need Scripture to lead us into humble dependency and reception of grace.
Remembering Leads to Joy
Remembering also refers to the larger scope of God’s activity. We see this throughout the Psalms as the psalmists sing “come and see what God has done.” They are repeatedly looking back on the faithfulness of God and it leads them to rejoicing.
Psalm 13:5–6 says, “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
The source of their joy is the Lord’s action. Many of the Psalms were written at a time of sorrow, captivity, and exile. But they saw God fulfilling promises, extending mercies, and providing needs. In remembering the past, they can rejoice in today. They could trust that God acts in accordance with his character and is working out all things (Rom. 8:28).
We have the same capacity as the psalmists to look back at the ways God has cared for us, particularly with the purchase of our salvation. Because of Jesus, we are no longer at war with God, but at peace; no longer enemies, but friends; no longer enslaved to sin, but slaves of Christ. God loves us so much that he would open the door to everlasting life, “that [Christ’s] joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).
Remembering Leads to Hope
Like the Psalms, the book of Lamentations invites us into the balance of conviction and repentance, sorrow and rejoicing, lament and hope. The unknown author poetically reflects on the siege of Jerusalem and resulting exile of Israel.
In chapter 3, the author writes deeply about his distress and, as if coming up for fresh air, he says, “this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (vv. 21–23)”
In the pit of anguish, the remedy for his soul was remembering who God is––steadfast in love, overflowing with mercy, and faithful to the end. Remembering is what allows hope to exist. God has proven himself a worthy place for our eyes to transfix, for he is the one who restores, mends, heals, and saves.
A Resolve to Remember
Repentance, joy, and hope can all be found in one single command to remember:
“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’."— Luke 22:19–20
Communion communicates the climax of the redemptive narrative. This command to remember remains until we will no longer have to, when we’ll find ourselves constantly present with the glory of the Lord before us. Until that future day, the Christian life is one that rehearses the good news on Sunday and relives it throughout the week.
What if, then, we resolve this year to be better at remembering—to be a person that remembers in times of grief, sorrow, anxiety, fear, need, and unknowns the words and character of the Lord? What if we resolve to hold a posture of one that regularly recalls, reflects, and rehearses the truth in the midst of confusion, the light in the midst of darkness, and life in the midst of death, and to fix our gaze on the one who never forgets, always perfectly caring for and sustaining his people?
Let us resolve this year to cry out like the thief on the cross, “remember me when you enter your kingdom,” full of confidence in all our days that we eternally belong to him.
Footnotes
Wall calendar market size. Wall Calendar Market Size, Share, Trends, Global Report 2032. (2024, November 11). https://www.businessresearchinsights.com/market-reports/wall-calendar-market-109715
Psalm 66:5-6: “Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him.”
“The Lord’s Supper isn’t just a way to remember something that was accomplished in the past; it is a feast that nourishes our hearts. Here is an existential meal that retrains our deepest, most human hungers.” James K.A Smith, You Are What You Love, 98.
