Remembering

Back in the 1970’s, I was an office manager for General Electric Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio. The president of our division was Stu Ladow. The first time I met him, he made an impression on me that has never been forgotten. Let me tell you about Mr. Ladow.

He knew the one secret ingredient in making a company work to maximum efficiency was that its employees needed to be remembered. Mr. Ladow would visit every office in his division each year. When he came in, he would greet each employee by his or her first name.

This showed that he actually thought enough of us to study our names and commit them to memory. And on each visit thereafter, he would say something to that employee that showed he remembered talking to him or her the previous year. Mr. Ladow had an incredible talent for remembering people. And that remembrance made everyone want to produce more for the company.

I don’t know where Mr. Ladow first came upon that philosophy, but I know where the importance of people first started, and that was when God made us.

GENESIS 1:26-27 reads,

‘Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female – He created them.’

God didn’t say, “Let’s make man and see how it turns out,“ or “Let’s make some creatures just to see what they will do.” God made mankind the most important thing in all of His creation! And throughout the Bible, you can see that His major emphasis has always been on people, not things or places. This shows how much God thinks about us, and anyone who would spend that amount of time or energy thinking about us also remembers us.

And today, we are going to be talking about memories, as tomorrow is Memorial Day; the one day each year we dedicate to remembering our fallen heroes. They gave their all so that you and I might continue to live in the land that is free from tyranny.

MATTHEW 24:6-7

‘You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.’

Speaking of wars, each generation seems to spawn its own war, doesn’t it? My great-grandfather had the civil war that he marched south to fight. My grandfather was in Europe during WWI, and my dad was in Europe in WWII. My oldest brother was in the Korean War, I was in Vietnam, and my son was in the first Iraqi war. And your family is probably much the same.

So, as we remember our heroes tomorrow, think about what Memorial Day means to you. Many people only think of having a day off, or grilling in the backyard. Many plan to take trips. What do you plan on doing with your Memorial Day? Whatever you plan on doing, I encourage you to take a few moments out during the day to remember. Remember those who gave their very lives so you could do what you want tomorrow. Again, many people will forget all about our heroes.

A policeman once noticed a lady driving with her head bowed down over the steering wheel. He stopped her and asked her if everything was okay. She said, “For ten years I have been driving my husband to this train station, and I guess it became such a habit that today – I FORGOT HIM!” Sometimes we do much damage by forgetting people, don’t we?

One of the hardest lessons for us to learn is that God did not put us here to focus on ourselves, but to focus on others around us. Take a tip from Mr. Ladow and start remembering those around you, including all those who gave their lives so you wouldn’t have to.

In 2 TIMOTHY 1:3 we see where Paul remembered Timothy.

‘I constantly remember you in my prayers.’

Going on into verse 5, Paul tells Timothy that He is reminded of Timothy’s faith. He could not have been reminded of Timothy’s faith unless he was remembering Timothy. And that is what we are to do, too. We are to remember those around us so that we will know best how to help them and how to guide them towards Jesus.

Since tomorrow is dedicated to our fallen heroes, let us be sure to …