What To Remember And What To Forget

TITLE: WHAT TO REMEMBER AND WHAT TO FORGET

Introduction:

Imagine that you are going on a business cum leisure trip. During the preparation, you may have a hundred things on your mind. Now you need to prioritize what to bring and what not to bring. For example, you must remember to bring your passport, foreign currency and the business documents for your trip. At the same time, there are excess and unnecessary stuff that you will choose leave them at home.

Life is a journey with the Lord. We need to live with our eyes set on the purpose which God has for us. One of the most important keys to reach this goal is to know what to remember and what to forget.

A) THINGS TO REMEMBER

Point # 1 - Remember Your First Love

Jesus says to the Church in Ephesus that although she has been busy doing things for the Lord but she is lacking in her love that she used to have for her Bridegroom. These are the words of Jesus, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works” (Rev 2:4, 5).

Do you remember how much you love Jesus in the past? You were so excited to wake up in the morning to read God’s Word. There was always a fresh manna from heaven. Do you remember the days when you are always looking forward to the weekend? Because you cannot wait to go to Sunday Service to worship the Lord, and to serve the Lord together with the other believers. Do you remember the days when you are so excited about Jesus to everyone around you? What happened to you that now you stopped sharing the gospel? What happen to your joy in service? When did you lose your joy of serving the Lord and His people? Has your heart grown cold? How many of the Lord’s warriors backslidden and return to the world? Are you at risk of becoming one of the casualties?

Jesus says to the church in Ephesus, remember how far you have fallen, repent and do the things you did at first. The starting place is to “Remember” because only then we can realise that things are not what they are supposed to be. Following the former, come “Repent” and “Return”.

Point #2 - Remember the Father’s Love

The younger son in the parable of the Prodigal Son represents the nature of mankind. People wants to self-rule and be independent from God’s law. When they follow their own desires and go as far as they can from God, their portion will be misery and sorrow. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So, he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” (Lk 15:13-16).

Life without God is a life that has a vacuum because it does not have a purpose for living. As a result, men and women fill themselves with pleasure, fun and enjoyment, riches and fame. These are fleeing and temporal, as we can see it happening around us during this pandemic. This world offers temporal pleasure and wealth but they are nothing more than what we will find at the end of a rainbow.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!” (Lk 15:17). The younger son left home and live like an orphan. When mankind lives without God, we will be like orphans in this world. Orphans have no one to cover, nurture, protect and provide for them. They have to fight and strive for all their lives, because they are orphans.

Remember the goodness and kindness of God the Father. God is a Father at heart. He is just, He is righteous and holy. But ultimately, He is a Father at heart. He did not wait for us to return, Rom 5:8 tells us that when we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Point #3 - Remember Lot’s Wife

Jesus tells about the wife of a man named Lot. In Genesis19:1-25 records for us the events that happened, Lot moved his entire family to live in the wicked city of Sodom. At a later time, judgement came upon the city as a result of her sins. The Lord sent two angels to rescue Lot and his family from the impending destruction. The angel warned Lot to escape with his family and not turned back. Otherwise, they would also be destroyed. And so, it happened that when the fire came down from the heaven upon the city, Lot’s wife looked back at the city and she was turned into a pillar of salt. She was too entangled with the city and she could not bear to leave it. She longed for the vanity fair, pleasure, the wealth, prom and the glam.