Our yesterdays are gone, but memory gathers them all up and keeps them forever. Our bright yesterdays, as well as our dark yesterdays, walk into our hearts, many times uninvited, often creating sizeable disruptions. Long-ago sunny days are once more ours; dark days and dreary nights filled with sorrow and tears return to remind us that memories are still very much alive and real.
There are memories that prevent. Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, "Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth." We need to preach the gospel of prevention. We are in danger of accenting and emphasizing the gospel of rescue, rather than prevention. However, prevention is better than cure. We must instill God in our youth.
Moses was afraid the people would forget God. He wrote in Deuteronomy 6:10-12, "And it shall be, when Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land which He sware unto thy fathers ... , then beware lest thou forget Jehovah, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Forgetfulness is often the cause of sin today (cf. 1 John 4:8).
Solomon said, "Remember thy Creator." But how do we do this? By thinking of His person, reflecting on His character, acknowledging His goodness. When? In our youth, but not only then; we need to begin then to live with God. He is worthy and entitled to be remembered. The youth of one's life is due God. If we remember God during the formative years of youth, we will not forget Him when we are old. Jesus realized that memory might prevent sin, so He said, "Remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:52). The memories of Joseph (Genesis 39:8-9), Moses (Hebrews 11:24-25), Daniel (Daniel 1:8), and Timothy (2 Timothy 1:5-6) helped them to serve God. To forget God is to destroy life's highest calling and to damage one's own soul.
There are memories that cure. Peter, remembering Jesus' words, repented with weeping. After Peter had denied the Lord three times, as Jesus said he would, the text says, "And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how that He said unto him, before the cock crow this day thou shalt deny Me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly." (Luke 22:61,62)
The prodigal son, remembering his father's house, was able to leave the pigpen. In Luke 15, we learn that the son's memory of his father's treatment of the servants reminded the son of his father's goodness. The son's memory caused him to realize how far he had fallen. And his memory awakened within him the desire for better things that caused him to return home.
We need to have our memories aroused that they may cure. Peter wrote, in 1 Peter 3:1-2, "This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance; that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandments of the Lord and Savior through your apostles."
In the letter to the church in Ephesus, we read, "Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent." (Revelation 2:5)
The Lord's Supper should keep afresh in our memory Christ's suffering and saving power (cf. Luke 22:19). Without this reminder, some in Corinth were spiritually weak and sick, and some were spiritually dead (1 Corinthians 11:29,30).
There are memories that torment. Those who suffer great tragedy are often reluctant to discuss it, for fear of bringing back the sense of pain and anguish that accompanied the tragedy.
There are those who, for a while, enjoyed great happiness, then lost it due to the carelessness of sin. These, too, are reluctant to talk of days gone by, lest they should feel again the painful sense of guilt and the loss of that which can never be regained. This was certainly true of David as he agonized over the death of his son, Absalom. In 2 Samuel 18:33 we read, "And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, 'O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!'" What could have been, now will never be.
The captive Jews were tormented as they remembered Zion's former glory (Psalm 137); and when they returned to Judah and saw the rebuilt temple, they were tormented by their memories of the splendid temple that had been destroyed. "But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' (houses), the old men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off." "Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? And how do ye see it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing?" (Ezra 3:12-13; Haggai 2:3)
Certainly, Abraham's words to the rich man serve as a sobering reminder of the eternal torment of one's memory. "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now here he is comforted, and thou art in anguish.'" (Luke 16:25) These words were addressed to one who had crossed the river of death unprepared and would forever remember his refusal of God's way. This reveals that the soul retains its faculties after death. Death has no power over memory. Memory lives in this world and in the world to come. We can remember, like the rich man, the opportunities for good we passed by, the invitation of God we refused, the commands we did not obey, the broken promises. Most assuredly, our memories of these things will add to hell's torment.
To the end that we may escape memories that will torment, let us cultivate memories that prevent and cure.
Memories are wonderful things, and we all have them. But we must acknowledge that some memories can prevent us from leading joyful and productive lives. I sometimes talk with folks who are unable to forget their past sins. They cannot forgive themselves; nor do they believe that God will forgive them. These are bad memories that they refuse to erase from their minds. While it is true that we can learn from our past mistakes, and that we must repent of them, God does not want us to allow them to be millstones around our necks because we refuse to let them go. Move forward and understand that when God forgives-He forgets. (Hebrews 8:12; Isaiah 1:18; Jeremiah 31:34)
One more thing. Christian parents should work toward cultivating happy memories for their children. Sadly, many people in our world have horrible nightmares and childhood memories because their parents did not love them or bring them up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4) Too many fathers, "provoke their children to wrath," (Colossians 3:21). Childhood memories can last a lifetime, and bad ones can haunt a person for the rest of his/her life, not only ruining their lives, but the lives of their children! As God's people, let us work to follow His pattern for raising our children. Let them know they are loved; discipline them with love; and teach them God's ways. Spend quality time with your children so that their childhood memories will be fond reflections of happy times. (KMG)