Remember
The research into our brain’s storage capacity is absolutely remarkable.
It has been discovered that your mental storage capacity is somewhere around 2.5 petabytes. Say what??? Well, maybe this will help: 2.5 petabytes is a million gigabytes, or enough to hold 300 years of nonstop television shows, or listening to one billion minutes of music in an MP3 format (that’s 16,666,666.6667 hours, or 69,4444.444444 days, or 22,831.025208 months or 1,902.58751903 years). Can we all agree this is a large storage capacity?
The famous curve of forgetfulness reveals that information you do not interact with regularly will be forgotten (40% within 24 hours, or 60% within 48 hours).
Two of the words God chose to use frequently in Scripture to engage our high capacity brains are “remember” and “forget.” The word “forget” tends to reveal truths that lead to some current or coming disasters in one form or another. The word “remember” tends to draw attention to truths and events God wanted embedded into your thinking that would warn, shape, protect, and bless your life.
Here are some “remembers”:
God told His people to put tassels (“a cord of blue”) on the corners of their garments to “look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord…and be holy to your God.” (Numbers 15:38-40)
God repeatedly told His people to “remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm.” (Exodus 13:3; Deuteronomy 5:15; 7:18, 19; 15:15; 16:3, 12; 24:18, 22)
“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them.’’” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)
“Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me.” (Isaiah 46:9)
“Remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:32; Genesis 19:23-26)
“…remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35b)
“And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25)
“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel.” (2 Timothy 2:8)
“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.” (Hebrews 13:7)
“But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 17)
Other “remembers”: Exodus 20:8-11; 1 Chronicles 16:12, 15; Psalm 105:5; John 15:20; Ephesians 2:11-12; Hebrews 13:3; 2 Peter 3:2.
Here are some “forgets”:
“You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth.” (Deuteronomy 32:18)
“The sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.” (Judges 3:7)
“They forgot His deeds and His miracles that He had shown them.” (Psalm 78:11)
“They quickly forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel…They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt.” (Psalm 106:13, 21)
“So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you.” (Deuteronomy 4:23)
“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today.” (Deuteronomy 8:11)
“That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.” (Psalm 78:7)
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.” (Psalm 103:2)
Other “forgets”: Deuteronomy 4:9, 31; 6:12; 8:19; 25:19; 2 Kings 17:38; Psalm 50:22; 78:7; Jeremiah 23:27
God knows that even with all the enormous capacity He created our minds to have, we sometimes forget too often and do not remember enough.
I like what David said, “I will never forget Your precepts, for by them, You have revived me” (Psalm 119:93).
God has always provided His people with memory devices so that we wouldn’t forget who He is and what He has done for us (e.g., the rainbow; stones of memorial; Aaron’s breastplate; memorial offerings; memorial stones; the jar of manna in the ark; feast of Purim; Lot’s wife; eight national holidays–Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Feast of Weeks, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Tabernacles; the Lord’s Supper; Scripture memory–Psalm 119:11).
Let’s use our high-capacity noggins to recall what matters most and avoid forgetting the amazing grace and truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I ran across a song sung by ex-Rascal Flatts singer Gary LeVox (yes, I know he sings country and no, I’m not a secret listener) and this song sums up in a simple way what we can never afford to forget: Never Forget.
Pastor Jeff Moorehead