Margaret complained to her friends that George, her husband, could never remember their wedding anniversary on March 7. But one year, they were on a cruise ship to Australia. At five minutes before midnight on March 6, George proudly looked at Margaret and said, “This year I remembered. Just five minutes.”
At that moment the captain's voice announced, “We have crossed the International Date Line. It's now March 8” (Margaret Gunn, Mason, Michigan, “Lite Fare,” Christian Reader, July/ August, 2000).
Ladies, it’s nice when someone remembers you, isn’t it?
Years ago, a man in a previous church where I pastored (Blaine Beckett) sent his wife some flowers from three different florists on their anniversary. When she got the first arrangement, she thought, “Oh, that’s nice,” but she was half expecting it, because her husband was a thoughtful person, and he usually remembered their anniversary.
Then the second arrangement arrived, and she was very much surprised. But when the third arrangement of flowers came, she nearly dropped dead! That’s when he came home from work and took her out to dinner. To say the least, he remembered his wife on their anniversary.
Do you know? God remembers you! God says to His people, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…” (Isaiah 49:15-16).
God will not forget His own! He cannot, because you are permanently engraved on Him. So, even if everyone else forgets…
GOD REMEMBERS YOU.
The Lord is mindful of you. He thinks of you all the time.
I wonder. If nice things happen when PEOPLE remember you, what happens when GOD remembers you? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis 8, Genesis 8, where we see what happened when God remembered Noah.
Genesis 8:1-5 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen (ESV).
When God remembered Noah, the waters of judgment receded, God withdrew His hand of judgment, and the storm stopped. And that’s what happens when God remembers you.
The storm stops. The waters recede, and God withdraws His hand of judgment. The Bible says, “All [of us] have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And “the wages of sin is death.” But when God remembers you, He withdraws the death penalty for your sin. The waters of judgment recede, and you live!
On February 24, 2001, Erika, a one-year-old, little girl crawled out of her mother's bed, wandered out of the house and ended up lost in the frozen night of an Edmonton, Alberta winter.
By the time her mother, Leyla Nordby, found her, Erika was like a statue. Her legs were stiff, her body frozen, and all signs of life appeared to be gone.
Even so, Leyla took Erika to Edmonton's Stollery Children's Health Center, where she came back to life. To everyone’s amazement, there was no sign of brain damage, and doctors expected a full recovery. She would soon be able to hop and skip and play like other girls her age (Bob McKeown, “A Tiny Survivor,” from the television program Dateline, MSNBC, March 20, 2001).
In essence, that’s what happened to you when you came to faith in Christ. You were wandering around in the cold night of sin. Your heart was hard, and your spirit was as lifeless as that little girl in the snow. Then God remembered you. He came after you in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ. He sought you until He found you, and He gave you eternal life – i.e., those of you who have trusted Christ.
Please, if you haven’t done it already, let the Lord pick you up and bring you back to His house. Let Him bring warmth to your hard heart and healing to your lifeless spirit. Please, trust Him today with your life today. For when God remembers you, first of all, the storm stops.
Then second, you find rest. You find peace and security.
That’s what Noah sought for and found after the flood. Imagine being on a swaying, pitching, rocking ship for 150 days in the worst storm this world has ever known. What would you want more than anything else? You’d want rest. You’d want security. You’d want solid ground! Well, that’s exactly what God gave Noah after the flood. Verse 4 says, “The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.” Oh, how good that must have felt, to be at rest at last! But there’s more!
Genesis 8:6-7 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth (ESV).
A raven is an unclean animal (Leviticus 11:15). It would never be able to tell Noah if there was a suitable resting place outside the ark, because any old, dirty place would do for a raven. Besides the bird itself was restless. Notice, “it kept flying back and forth.”
Genesis 8:8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground (ESV).
Noah sent out a clean animal, which would be satisfied with only a clean, dry resting place.
Genesis 8:9-12 But the dove found no place to set her foot [literally, the dove could find no resting place], and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore (ESV)
The dove had found her resting place! That means Noah found rest and so can you!
Now, “rest” is one of those grand themes in the Bible that starts in Genesis (2:2) and continues all the way through to the book of Revelation (14:13). If you were to study it, you would discover three kinds of rest.
Number one: when God remembers you, you enjoy a Sabbath rest, or rest from your labor. There is a weekly rest from your labor (Exodus 20:11; 23:12), if you choose to enjoy it. Then there is a daily rest from the labor of trying to please God, because Jesus already pleased the Father on your behalf (Matthew 11:28-29). And Then there will be a future rest in the coming Kingdom of God (Hebrews 4:9; Revelation 14:13). When God remembers you, you enjoy a Sabbath rest.
Number two, when God remembers you, you enjoy a Salvation rest, or rest from your enemies. Deuteronomy 25:19 says of Israel, God has given you rest from all your enemies around you. The same is true of the believer in Christ. For when Christ died on the cross, He defeated all the enemies of the Christian: the world, the flesh, and the devil Himself. Hebrews 2:14 says, By his death he… destroy[ed] him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil. Hallelujah!
So, when God remembers you, you find a Sabbath rest, you find a Salvation rest.
And number three, you find a Secure rest, or rest from danger and fear.
Pastor Steve Brown was once talking to a lady who said she knew she had become a Christian by looking at her bed. When asked why, she said, “Before, when I got out of my bed, it was all rumpled because I had tossed and turned all night. Now when I get out of the bed, it's as smooth as silk” (Steve Brown, "Forgiven and Forgotten," Preaching Today, Tape No. 139).
God had given her rest. And that’s what happens when God remembers you. First, the storm stops. Second, you find rest.
And third, God makes everything new. God makes a new creation, and you walk into a new world. That’s what happened to Noah.
Genesis 8:13-14 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out (ESV).
One year and ten days after it started to rain, the water was all gone.
Genesis 8:15-19 Then God said to Noah, “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark (ESV).
They came out into a new world, and that’s what happens when God remembers you. You come out into a new world. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Several years ago (2014), Mary Nelson began working at Seed, which is a restaurant that the Bluewater Mission church started in Honolulu to give people a second chance at work and at life. It was only the second job the 53-year-old had ever had. At the age of 14, Mary’s mother committed suicide and Mary started working on the streets of New York City as a prostitute. At the age of 18 she tried to start a new life in Hawaii, but she kept working as a prostitute.
Then when she was in her early 50’s, some Christians at Bluewater Mission persuaded her to leave the streets and try working at Seed. She spent the first six months washing dishes because she wanted to be far away from what she called, the “good people.” But after a lot of hard work and love from the people at church Mary says, “I get to be the person I was never able to be. I get to help people without someone trying to take advantage of me.”
Mary noted that what she makes in a month at Seed, she used to make in one night on the streets. She had it all: new cars, jewelry, travel, nice condos—though, sometimes, beatings, rape and “so much horror” came with the price. “You can't buy what I'm going through right now,” she says. “I never thought that I'd be this person I am now.”
A year later, Mary went with her church on a trip to the Philippines to reach out to prostitutes. She said, “I want those women to know there's hope. You can change. There are people out there that really want to help, and you've got to… believe. Just like you went out there and took a chance on the streets, you've got to take a chance on this as well” (Carla Herreria, “Restaurant In Hawaii Offers Fresh Start For Former Prostitutes, Convicts, Others Who Need A Hand,” The Huffington Post, 2-28-15; www.PreachingToday.com).
When Mary Nelson put her faith in Christ, God changed her from selling her body to giving her life to rescue others from prostitution.
And that’s what God can do for you if you let Him. He can bring you out into a whole new world. He can make you into a whole new person. Just trust Him with your life, and He will make everything new. He will cause the storm to stop, and give you rest in a new world. That’s what happens when God remembers you. So there can only be but one response.
REMEMBER HIM!
Put God first in your life. Honor the Lord above anyone or anything else. That’s what Noah did.
Genesis 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar (ESV).
Now, I’m sure Noah had a whole lot of other things to do. Not the least of which, he had to find a place to live. He had to find some food and build a shelter. Noah had to take care of his family. But before he does even that, he remembers the Lord, who remembered him.
Noah put God first in his life, and that’s what you must do. Don’t give God your leftover change, after you’ve spent your money on other things. Don’t give God your leftover time, after you’ve done everything else, and you lie exhausted in bed at the end of the day. Don’t give God your leftover life, after you’ve had your own fun, no.
Give Him the first and best part of everything. Give Him the first part of your paycheck every pay period. Give Him the first part of your time every day and every week. And give Him the first part of your life, starting today, while you still have your health and your strength.
Don’t wait until you’re on your death bed to remember the Lord. Remember Him today. Honor Him today with your life, no matter what else you’ve got going. I guarantee. You won’t regret it.
Coach Bobby Bowden at Florida State University loves to inspire his team with stories. One of his favorites is about himself when he was playing college baseball.
He had never hit a home run, when finally he hit one down the right-field line, into the corner. He rounds first and looks to the third base coach. He turned at second, was halfway to third and the coach was still waving him on. He got to home and hit the plate. He had his first home run. He was so excited and everybody was slapping him five. Then the pitcher took the ball, threw to the first baseman, and the umpire called him out.
[Coach Bowden] said, “If you don't take care of first base, it doesn't matter what you do. If you don't honor the Lord first, it doesn't matter what else you do” (The Tennessean, 9-29-00, submitted by Rubel Shelly, Nashville, Tennessee).
Your life is meaningless, it’s empty, it’s nothing, unless the Lord has first place in your life.
Hey, the Lord remembered you. Remember Him by making Him your first priority. Give God first place in YOUR life.
And if you haven’t already, accept the peace and rest that He offers. Receive the salvation that God wants to give you today. When Noah offered his sacrifice to the Lord, verse.21 says…
Genesis 8:21-22 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (ESV).
Noah’s sacrifice was a “pleasing aroma,” and it turned God’s anger away from the earth. But Noah’s sacrifice was only a picture of another greater sacrifice, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Ephesians 5:2 says, “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
You see, Christ’s sacrifice of Himself, like Noah’s sacrifice, was a “pleasing aroma” or a “fragrant offering” to God. And it too turned God’s anger away from sinful people like you and me. Now, God offers eternal life to any who would receive it.
Please, won’t you accept God’s offer today? Just “call upon the Lord,” the Bible says, “and you will be saved.”
When you cross the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., on I-395, you cross the Arland D. Williams, Jr., Memorial Bridge.
Now, Arland D. Williams, Jr., was a man who rescued five individuals at the cost of his own life. It was January 13, 1982, and Air Florida Flight #90 had crashed into the icy Potomac. Almost everyone on board died, and more would have died had it not been for Williams, a passenger on that plane.
Five different times, a helicopter dropped a rope to save Williams. Five times, Williams passed the rope to other passengers in worse shape than he was. When the rope was extended to Williams a sixth time, he no longer had the strength to hold on, and he succumbed to the frigid waters (“A Hero-Passenger Aids Others, Then Dies,” Washington Post, 1-14-82; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s what Jesus did for you on the cross. He sacrificed His life to extend the lifeline to you. Only He didn’t stay dead. Three days later he rose from the grave, and now he offers eternal life to any who would receive it.
Please, don’t push that “lifeline” away anymore. By faith, reach out and grab the eternal life God offers you today. By faith, accept the peace and rest He wants to give you right now.
For God remembers you. Just remember Him in return.
Corrie Ten Boom once said, “I looked on Jesus and the dove of peace entered my heart. I looked at the dove of peace; and lo ... off he went” (Corrie Ten Boom, “Each New Day,” Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 2; www.PreachingToday.com).
So stop looking for peace. Just look to Jesus and find the peace you’re looking for.
