Needing Reminders for a Photographic Memory

Suggested Reading: Exodus 13:1-16

My memory is a little schizophrenic. I can look at the words on a page and remember them exactly when I want to. I'm able to recall the tiniest bit of trivia at a moment's notice and recall study notes for tests extremely easily. But ask me to remember that I have to be somewhere at 2:00 Thursday afternoon or to recall a conversation I had with my wife last night and I might as well be brain dead. Now, putting aside for a moment the conversations with my wife (I still insist half of them don't actually take place), the only way I can recall appointments is to set myself several reminders. Sometimes, these reminders take the forms of sticky notes left where I will see them, but my schedule is so inconsistent that sticky notes don't really work anymore. Most of the time I have to plug the appointment into the calendars in my phone and tablet and create a minimum of three reminders, one or two for the day of the event and then a few days before as well. Otherwise, I'm likely to forget completely. Once I didn't set a reminder and didn't remember an appointment until two months after it had passed. Reminders are an absolute necessity for me.

But just as badly as I forget appointments, nearly all of us have a tendency to forget the ways God has intervened in our lives. We have short memories and when the next tragedy strikes or trouble arises we can find it difficult to look past the current circumstances and remember how God has stepped in to help in the past. That is one of the reasons that, when God was leading his people out of slavery in Egypt, God commanded them, "On this day in early spring, in the month of Abib, you have been set free. You must celebrate this event in this month each year after the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites" (Exodus 13:4-5, NLT). God was setting up a reminder for the people to help them constantly remember God's power, kindness, and desire to set them free from their enemies. Since Israel settled in the land and then consequently forgot their devotion to God, we shouldn't find it surprising that scripture says they didn't celebrate this Passover feast until centuries later under the reigns of Josiah and Hezekiah. They never set up their reminders.

As God intervenes in our lives, as God saves us from various trials, helps us through times of difficulty or provides for us in the most impossible of circumstances, we would be wise to set up little reminders in our own lives, memorials that constantly keep us mindful of God's acts of love and power on our behalf. Sometimes they can be celebrations like Christmas and Easter traditions that have our own little twist. They might be our own little rituals that serve to slow things down and make us think about God's goodness, anniversaries of important events in life or a little plaque that sits on our desk at the office. Whatever God has done in your life, memorialize it, be intentional about remembering it and telling the story from time to time. You will be amazed at how much those reminders help when difficult times arise.

Worshiping Like Womanizers

Suggested Reading: 2 Chronicles 30:23-31:1

My wife used to watch a show called Gilmore Girls, which I think I've mentioned once or twice. When Rory, one of the main characters, went to college she met a boy named Logan who was something of a womanizer. He dated a different girl every night of the week and had a little black book the size of the encyclopedia (That may be a slight exaggeration. Maybe). He and Rory started dating (as one of his many girlfriends) because she thought she would be ok with a casual relationship. When she realized she wasn't ok just being one of many, she went to Logan to let him know she was done. But somewhere along the way Logan had fallen in love with Rory and, instead of accepting her ending of the casual relationship, Logan committed to Rory. Logan stopped seeing other girls cold turkey and was committed to Rory alone because he would rather date only her than have dozens of girls all the time without Rory. Being in love with Rory caused Logan to change his entire lifestyle.

In 2 Chronicles 30, where King Hezekiah re-instituted the Passover Feast after a decades long (if not longer) lapse, we saw God extend mercy and overlook the technicalities of purification rules and we saw the people respond by choosing to put their lives on hold and spend an extra seven days in worship. But their renewed devotion to God in response to God's mercy, didn't stop with more worship time. When the festival was done, the people who had celebrated went out and began to remove all of the altars  that were set up outside of the temple which violated the laws for worship. Then, they went even further and "broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, to the last one" (2 Chronicles 31:1, NIV). Once they were finished getting rid of the unlawful altars dedicated to God, they then went out and removed all of the places where idols were worshiped in the land.

Now, these idols and the places where they were worshiped were big business. Lots of money was made off of these idols. Some of them made their living by acting as priests in these high places. Having these places around made a convenient excuse for not going to the Temple to worship as the law of Moses required. But the people removed them all because their renewed devotion to God spurred them to take action to purify their lives from sin and to begin living in a way that pleased God. You see, loving someone affects the way you live your life. Logan's love for Rory caused him to give up all the other girls who might have gotten in the way, and the people of Judah and Israel loved God in such a way that they removed any of the other objects of worship that might have gotten in the way of their relationship with God.

We can claim we love God all we want. But when we continue to allow things in our lives that get in the way of that love, we don't have much credibility. When you love someone, it affects the way you live, it affects the choices you make and the things you allow in your life.  Far too often, though, we allow things in our lives that get in the way of our love for God, things that distract us from God or that push us out of God's will. But if we really love God like we say we do, that love will affect the way we live and the things we allow in our lives.

Is there something in your life that you just can't seem to let go of, even though it interferes with your relationship with God? If you really want to love God, it might be time to get rid of it.

Who Needs Sleep? I've Got Love

Suggested Reading:  2 Chronicles 30:20-27

My wife and I only dated for about a month before we got engaged. After we had been engaged for two months or so, I had to leave town for a week to go on tour with the university's Concert Choir. That week was the first time we had gone even an entire day apart since we started dating. Even though we talked on the phone for a while each night, we were dying to see each other by the week's end. The tour bus pulled back onto campus early Sunday evening and, even though we both had classes early the next morning, we ended up spending nearly the whole night walking, talking and holding hands. Neither of us cared that we had classes the next day or that we would be extremely tired before the afternoon rolled around. We were in love, we hadn't seen each other, and we weren't going to let practical concerns get in the way.

Yesterday we saw how God overlooked the technicalities of purification rules because the people were seeking God with their whole hearts. If you keep reading that passage, you discover how the people responded to God's grace in their lives. The people of Judah and the former territories of Israel had traveled to Jerusalem to observe the Passover feast with King Hezekiah, leaving behind their farms and businesses. The Passover feast was seven days long. People had prepared for a seven day celebration and the travel time involved and, you would think, they were ready to be heading home at the end of the seven day religious festival. But their joy at celebrating in the Lord's presence and their exuberance at God's mercy changed things. "The whole congregation decided to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy" (2 Chronicles 30:23, NIV). The people so thoroughly enjoyed being in God's presence with his people that the practical concerns of travelling at the right time and getting back to their businesses, lands, and families, simply did not seem all that important. These people, having already worshiped for a week, chose to stay and worship for another week!

And yet we watch our clocks to make sure the preacher doesn't go longer than his appointed time on Sunday mornings. We hesitate at the idea of going to a Bible Study in the middle of the week. We cringe at the thought of serving a neighbor in need because we have other things we need to get done. We excuse ourselves from helping someone whose car has broken down because we have a schedule to keep. These are just some of the ways that we can tell that our love for God has waned. When you're in love, you want to be with the person you love, you want to serve them, you want to spend every waking moment in their presence, regardless of practical concerns.  But when was the last time we felt that way about pleasing God and being in God's presence?

When people's love for each other wanes, both people are typically at fault to some degree. But in our relationships with God, God's attention and his desire for us have not changed. So instead of dreading or minimizing the time we spend with God, maybe we should do those things we used to do and re-cultivate our love for God.

When was the last time you were so caught up in God that you didn't care about where else you had to be or what else you had to do? If it's been a while, maybe it's time to re-cultivate your love for God. God's love for you hasn't changed.

Worshiping Like Rival Surfers

Suggested Reading: 2 Chronicles 30:13-22

In the movie Soul Surfer, teenage girl Bethany has her arm bitten off by a shark while surfing. Bethany had just received a sponsorship for a surfing tournament and was a favorite to win it big in the surfing world. Before she lost her arm, Bethany's biggest rival was mean and petty to her and she continued to be so, even after the shark incident. But Bethany worked her way back to competition shape, learning how to surf all over again. At the climax of the movie, in a surfing contest, this one-armed girl catches the best wave of the day and rides it to what should have been a contest winning score. The only problem was that Bethany caught the wave right after the buzzer sounded announcing the end of the contest. The rival, having won the contest, pulled Bethany onto the platform with her and shared the trophy, saying, "The judges may not have counted that last wave, but I did." In spite of their intense rivalry, the admiration Bethany's rival developed because Bethany had overcome the odds and learned how to surf all over again overrode any technicalities.

In 2 Chronicles, we read the account of King Hezekiah, who re-instituted the law and religious festivals after they had been ignored for decades. Hezekiah held a massive Passover feast but the people, who hadn't celebrated in so long that that proper purification rites had been forgotten, participated in the feast without ceremonially purifying themselves. As a result, God apparently sent some sort of plague among the people, but Hezekiah interceded for them, praying, "May the good Lord provide atonement on behalf of whoever sets his whole heart on seeking God, Yahweh, the God of his ancestors, even though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary." And God heard Hezekiah's request and healed the people (2 Chronicles 30:18-20, HCSB).  Even though the people weren't following all of the technicalities, God healed them and allowed them to participate because their hearts were seeking God, even if their knowledge of all the rules was incomplete.

Rules and technicalities are important and exist for a reason, but God is more concerned with the state of one's heart. One of God's recurring complaints through the prophets was that the people of Israel were following all of the technical rules but that their hearts were far from God. God cares about rules. But God cares more about the state of one's heart. God wants us to follow the rules, but when we mess up because of ignorance or make an honest mistake while seeking God with our whole heart, God is willing to overlook the occasional technicality, especially because seeking God will lead us to eventually learn and live by the guidelines God has laid out for us.

If God is willing to cut us some slack, shouldn't we cut ourselves some slack when we are seeking God but mess up. Better yet, shouldn't we cut others some slack?