I can’t really remember reading the book or what was written in it, but I know that when I was a kid I read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. I can’t remember the content, but the title is so very familiar. It’s like that with everything. We experience the fullness of life, but remember mostly the highlights.
I worked three summers at a Christian camp in the San Bernardino Mountains for a man named Jim Trail. Jim used to say that one of the keys to life is making memories. He built traditions with his children to infuse memories into them that would build character or a sense of family. When children got hurt he wouldn’t call it an injury or a scrape, but a “memory.” Jim would plan staff meetings, meal times, and reunions all with the idea of making memories.
Jim helped me to see the power of memories and the positive role that good memories can play in a person’s life. Everyone has memories. Everyone has both good and bad memories. Memories will play a significant part in our lives whether we like it or not. The beauty is that we can influence our memories. We can determine what becomes dominant in our thinking and in our hearts and in our reminiscing.
God knows this about us – God designed this in us. He made our hearts moldable. This is why all through the Old Testament God encourages, commands and exhorts his people – his family, to celebrate holidays (holy days), to set up memorial stones (touchstones), and to tell stories (testimonies). He wants us to remember.
He wants our hearts to be stamped with His highlights throughout history and in our own lives. He wants us to be inspired and to have hope. He wants our lives and our thinking to be filled with thoughts of His working and his goodness.
He wants us to remember…
