Forget You

The bags were packed, there I was sitting in front of the ticket counter of Iberia Airlines. But smile as I may, charm as I may there was no way I would make my flight. Why? Forgetfulness. Did ever forget something on a trip that made your trip difficult? Nearly 20 years ago I left my passport in my dorm room at university. The drive from JFK airport to back to my dorm room would have made me late for my flight. No amount of money, talent or gifts were going to get me on that plane. The only thing that would get me on the airplane would be remembering.  To enjoy the privilege and access of all that God has done for you all you have to do is remember. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome.

Nehemiah 4:14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome…”

More often than not, I discover that a lot of the stress in my life is due to forgetfulness. I forget who God is. I forget what he has done in my life. I forget what he has done collectively for his Church. The Psalmist says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, Forget none of his benefits.”(Psalm 103:2)

So many times in our life our stress and anxiety are linked to one small thing: spiritual amnesia. But God is the ever loving Father who loves us through our faulty memory into a glorious remembrance.

Nehemiah understood how powerful our amnesia is, that is why he encourages us to remember. On the night that Jesus was betrayed he took bread, he broke it and said, “Do this in remembrance.” We repeat this beautiful supper regularly because we are so prone to forget. The whole point of God giving us bread, wine and the Word is that they might be signs, symbols, and gift that bring to heart his extravagant love. Only when we remember will we be filled with the peace that passes understanding. This peace will guard our hearts and minds greater than any wall ever would.

Scars tell stories

Ex. 28:15   “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment … 29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD.

Read Exodus 28:1-30:38

I remember when I was a teenager taking my dog for walks in the park. On one of those days a large German shepherd came and attacked my dog.  Instinctively, I rushed to Fuzzy’s defence. Fuzzy was trying to defend himself and bit the first thing he could fix his teeth on, unfortunately, that was me. With a sharp kick I separated the German shepherd, who was twice the size of Fuzzy, from my dog. My dog was now safe, but I had 4 holes in my forearm from his canine teeth. From that day onward I would carry four holes in my left forearm. I would always remember that story and loving rescue. Scars tell stories. Scars bring to mind.

After receiving instruction on how to construct the tabernacle, God gives Moses three chapters’ worth of painstaking instruction on how to create the priestly garments for Aaron. The details are meticulous. We could easily miss the meanings of every single thread of the garments if we skipped past every verse. Let’s just take a small look at the “ephod” or breastplate that the priest was to wear. The priest is asked to wear 12 unique and precious stones. Each stone is to have one of the names for the twelve tribes of Israel. This breastplate is to symbolise the concept of bearing the tribes before YHWH already expressed in verse 12, whether the idea is bearing their guilt, or simply interceding for them in prayer.

Whenever the high priest went into the Holy of Holies, the very heart of the tabernacle and the center of God’s presence in the wilderness wanderings, he did not go in alone. He went in as the representative of his people. He would speak on their behalf to God and God would speak to Aaron on Israel’s behalf.

The writer of Hebrews shows us the deeper meaning of this text. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, … he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”(Heb 9:11-12)

No longer are our names written on pieces of stone which may weather and fade.  Our names are written on the very palms of God’s hand.

Have you ever wondered why God being all powerful, chose to retain the scars of His crucifixion? The answer is he wanted to remember you. Scars tell stories.

Is. 49:15        
“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;