The Bible for Women

Precious Memories

“Precious memories, how they linger, how they ever flood my soul….”  We have all sung the words to this famous hymn.  Our hearts are flooded with memories when someone close to us dies, when we reminisce about an old house, an old friend, or old times.  Memories can be so good and sweet.  I remember growing up when my brother, cousins and I spent summers with my grandmother in the country.  I recall good lessons learned like reaping what you sow when Nanny had us shelling peas until our fingers were so sore. But ah the taste of those sweet, fresh peas hot off the stove eaten with a slice of steaming hot cornbread.  Or on the contrary, eating more blackberries than we brought home and not having quite enough for the pie!  I remember listening to gospel music while watching her sit in her chair crocheting a blanket and singing to us “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine…” 

I remember a bedroom full of beautiful crocheted purses, sweaters, and dolls that she always said she was going to sell and ended up giving them away because there were so many needy in that country community.   I remember the little church where we laid her to rest and how so many times she took the grandkids there to cut the grass, pull weeds, and clean the graves. 

I do have a vague memory of her pulling a switch off a tree a time or two to threaten a wayward youngster, but who wants to remember that?  No, I choose to focus on her taking us to the country store a mile away and buying us all candy and taking us to the little library 30 miles away to check out a book.  I want to remember slopping the pigs and raising little baby chickens and how she taught us to check for snakes in the hen house before we gathered the eggs.  I like to remember the smell of bacon and fresh biscuits and the chatter of the hunters who came to eat breakfast in the fall at her house before they went out in the woods.

How do we want Christ to remember us on that Day of Judgment?  The Bible says in

Hebrews 6:10, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”  The request is made in Nehemiah 13:14, “Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.”  Hezekiah asks in 2 Kings 20:3, “I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.”

Psalm 25:7 states, “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.”

How do we want God to remember us?

Christ says to us in Matthew 10:33, “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”
How do make certain that Christ knows us?  How do we make sure that He does not remember our sins?  How do we make sure that he remembers our obedience?  We cannot enter into judgment without his blood.

We are told in Acts 2:36-40
 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."

 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."

We must make certain that we are living for Him in every aspect of our lives.  We must remember the inspired words of God in the scripture.  We must use them, learn from them and allow them to help us in our daily walk.  Are we going to sin?  Of course we are.  Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  Do we have forgiveness?  Romans 3:24 states that we are, “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” 
God has so much grace.  He has so much mercy.  He wants us to succeed.  If you don’t believe that, just take a walk back to Exodus and read how forgiving God was to those Israelites.  If He can forgive them over and over, then He can do a mighty work among us also.  And that means ANYONE.  Every soul, every person from every place, every background, every color, every race, no matter what sins you have committed, no matter what mistakes you’ve made.  My son sings a song in Bible class that says, “He’s still workin’ on me, to make me what I ought to be.  It took him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars, how loving and patient he must be, he’s still workin’ on me.” 

Phillipians 1:6 states, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”  We cannot give up striving for the goal. Hebrews 12:2 states, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
We must remember also that as Christ forgives us so are we to forgive others. We must offer that grace to others walking with us as well.  Remember how God is forgiving us as we come to a time when we need to forgive others who sin against us. How do we remember others?  Do we have precious memories or do we continue to flood our hearts and souls with memories of difficult times or sins committed against us, not letting go in forgiveness?  Christ says in Matthew 6:14, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” 

God will remember how we forgive others.  He will remember.  Revelation 20:12 states, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”    
Memories are indeed precious.  Let us show our obedience to God by repenting of our sins, confessing that Christ is the son of God, being baptized for every sin we have ever committed and living the Godly life we need to live for Him.  By obeying Him, we are assured that He will have precious memories of us on that great day and that we will walk with Him in eternal life.      

Margie Busby

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