Deuteronomy 8:2
(excerpt from Morning Meditations by Martin Wiles)
Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart. (NIV)
I thought of it recently and opened the jewelry box that lay on my closet’s shelf. Sure enough, it was still there with a blank stare and crumpled band.
Timex watches “take a licking and keep on ticking.” Until the battery goes dead. I had replaced it several years ago with a newer version. Yet the older one had one feature the newer one didn’t. A digital compass.
The compass wasn’t important, but the memory connected to it was. This watch had accompanied me on numerous hiking trips with my daughter, son, brother and other friends. It had been rained and snowed on, endured scorching heat and bone penetrating cold, and had bathed under waterfalls and dipped in creeks. Memories made it special.
So I carefully took it from its resting place and replaced its battery and band. Now the newer watch rests in the jewelry box while the older one wraps around my wrist.
The capacity to remember is important but memories are more heartwarming. Moses instructed the Israelites to remember how God had led them through the wilderness. Their shoes and clothes hadn’t worn out. He always supplied food and water, even after they complained. These memories would build trust as they entered an unknown land with challenging obstacles.
One of my favorite songs is The Way We Were by Barbara Streisand. It begins, “Memories, light the corners of my mind. Misty watercolor memories of the way we were.” Of all we should remember, God’s place in our life should be paramount.
Remembering where God has brought us from and what He has delivered us through makes it easier to trust Him with our futures. Complete forgiveness, an eternal home, daily guidance from His Spirit, strength to overcome temptations, and peace in the most tumultuous struggles are only a few things worth recalling. Faith for today and tomorrow resides in the Source who is capable of meeting every need.
Prayer: My Lord and God, may we always remember Your sustaining grace which will uphold us every day.