Don’t Forget!

We live in a time and a season where we are consumed by so many things that take up time energy and all our resources. The subject of Thanksgiving is very often overlooked especially in a Christian walk.

For Thanksgiving to be effective it requires remembrance. Many times we come to God expecting a blessing which is often granted. We see our blessings and are filled with joy. Sometimes we are consumed by the blessing that we often forget the One who blessed us. We are so consumed with the healing we forget the Healer, we are so consumed with the deliverance that we forget the Deliverer. The test of our Love for God is in our resolve and relationship with God after we have received all we have prayed for.

In Deuteronomy Chapter 8 Moses admonished the Children of Israel on the need for remembrance always in relating to the Lord their God.

“Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”

One tragedy of humanity is forgetfulness. If you will forget what anyone has done or what anyone has been to you, do not forget the Lord your God and who He is to you.

“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;…” Deuteronomy 8:11-14

It is so easy to forget a difficult life one has had when God blesses them and suddenly things that used to be a challenge no longer exists. Truth be told it is human nature to be drawn more to your present realities which bring you some comfort and peace. You will have to be deliberate about remembering things of the past if your present realities and experiences are going well for you.

You see after struggling to get a job after school and the hustle of jumping one trotro to another on a daily basis to get to this job, one would not deliberately remember his or her trotro days or try to relive those days consciously when they have been blessed with a car or two. Please don’t get me wrong I have had some amazing moments and met some nice people on trotros in my earlier years. But the point I am making is that it is easy to forget the experiences and the past realities where you have to wake up at 5am to be able to catch the first trotro (mini bus) to the next station in order to beat the long queue at next station just to get to work by 8am. Now by the Grace of God your life is better, you don’t need to go through that stress on a daily basis, you are comfortable at home, on the road and at work. It is easy to take the blessing for granted. You can easily forget you have gone to bed hungry before when now you can afford any dish. You can easily forget you have been been broke and despised when now you have several bank accounts with substance. You can easily forget you owned only one dress for two years. You can forget how your one shoe had a hole at the bottom when you now have ten shoes to choose from.

To be thankful requires remembrance. Imagine the children of Israel after all God did for them, after all the tangible miracles that brought them deliverance from bondage, do you know after Moses’ absence for forty days they forgot God and went into idol worship. I have come to realize that being entitled will rob you of thanksgiving because you will feel that you deserve everything, and what you deserve you don’t have to remember.

Being thankful requires that you have a reference which you can brought to bear by remembrance. I like to say remembrance is the foundation of our thanksgiving. It is what initiates the process for thanksgiving. In my earlier write ups I spoke about David who is referred to as a man after God’s own heart. The secret to David’s relationship with God Almighty is that he remembered always where God brought him out from.

He wrote Psalm 103 to remind himself of God’s place in his life and the many blessings that cannot be taken for granted;

He writes;

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 iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The LORD executes righteousness

And justice for all who are oppressed.

He made known His ways to Moses,

His acts to the children of Israel.

The LORD is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

He will not always strive with us,

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children,

So the LORD pities those who fear Him.

For He knows our frame;

My God! If this is not remembrance, I don’t know what it is. To remain relevant to the Lord requires us to remember our testimonies and speak of them. By doing so you acknowledge that you did not arrive here by yourself but by the Grace and the help of God. By remembrance you rehearse your past victories that points praise and glory to the Lord Most High.

My top three favorite people who demonstrated gratitude in the Bible and who inspire me a lot are David, Mary Magdalene and Simon the leper (who returned to thank the Lord Jesus)

David remembered his past so much that there are many notable actions he took that brought glory to God. In building his first house he purposed to build God a house first, and though the thought only was enough for God, he went ahead to provide all the materials for Solomon his son to build a temple for God.

Mary Magdalene after she had been delivered from 7 demons by Jesus came to Jesus with her expensive fragrant oil to anoint Jesus. The worth of her gift and posture was a reflection of how worthy she saw Jesus the Christ.

In Matthew 26:6-13

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”

But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

You see, the worth you put on God will determine your response to Him. Out of the ten lepers Jesus healed only one returned to give thanks. I believe he returned because he saw his state had changed by the touch of this wonderful man. He could not go without returning to say thank you. The ten lepers were all healed but only one was made whole because he returned to give thanks. In those days it was against the customs for lepers to live in the midst of the people. They lived on the outskirts of the city far from everyone because they were considered unclean. Your attitude of gratitude will bring you wholeness.

In summary we have to remember God before we can offer worthy thanks to him. Remembrance then becomes the foundation of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving becomes the stage you put your praise on. God inhabits the praise of His people,

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good;

His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100:4

Shalom peace and life to you.

Pastor Ron Chiarelli