23/10/13

Remember, Remember

Ezekiel 16:43 - Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.


Lately I attended a leadership training organized by our Church. The preacher (who had come from abroad) of this training was teaching on the topic 'change' and gave some excellent examples as he was teaching but due to his lack of study of scriptures his message went against scriptures and the topic. I do not blame him for he depended on translation and anchored on one scripture which is Isaiah 43:18. If one reads the scripture as per the translation it reads as God instructing not to remember the former things or consider the things of old. His message was every pleasing and nice. All Christians love to hear such messages and he delivered them just what their ears twitched to hear.

He was a senior Pastor and headed a large group of churches with presence all over the world and it was sad to hear this from him. If he was only taught how to study the Bible the right way he would not have made such grave mistakes (this was one of the 2 serious mistakes he made in his one session and being a senior Pastor he has no excuse).

Isaiah 43:18 - Remember <02142> (8799) ye not the former things <07223>, neither consider <0995> (8709) the things of old <06931>.

If one goes through the Hebrew text the word translated as 'neither consider' actually means 'discern' and the word 'former things' is just 'former'. Thus the right understanding of the scripture is as follow:-

Isaiah 43:18 - Remember not the former, discern the things of old.

In the scripture God is instructing not to remember what we were before the former us but at the same time we should not forget the things of the pass. This means we should not remember the bad person we were, or the evil we did, or the foolish mistakes we did but God tells us to remember the wonders He did in our lives, the things that changed us and took us on the path to know God and His mission for us. These things are the testimonies which were kept in the Ark of Covenant, like the pot of Manna was a testimony of how God fed them in the wilderness every day for 40years. It was for the reason for them to remember the wonders God did in their lives that the Lord told them to celebrate festivals. This was not just for them but also for them to tell their children and others put in their lives.

We need to realize this remembering is very important and God did not tell us because He wants credit and praise for it. No doubt He is due all praise for every good in our lives, for all things are only because of His mercy; but the main reason is so that we do not turn back to the way we were before. Remembering certain things like our testimony of the day God changed or delivered us from our bondages is always good for they keep us from backsliding, at the same time God warns us not to bring back to mind the carnal person we were and thus reignite the desires of the flesh, of such things God instructs us to put to death.

In today's message the word used as 'youth' does not refer to young age but means early life, it refers to early stages of our spiritual life. In today's message again the Lord warns, it is because we do not remember regularly the things that the Lord did in our early walk with the Lord we make grave mistakes and thus bring God to anger. Thus it is a very good practice at least once a week to share one of our testimonies with someone and if we do not get anyone to share it with, let us bring it to our minds by ourselves and giving glory to God, thus strengthening our walk in the Lord.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, You are a wonderful God. Even before we could turn to You, You had made a way for us by your sacrifice. You knew of all the sins we had and will commit and yet You chose us to be your inheritors. You did and are doing great and wonderful things in our lives. Lord we pray we bring to minds these things every day and thus not backslide and thus come into your wrath...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference ]
Isaiah 43:18-19
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Exodus 25:21-22
21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Psalms 25:7 - Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others.
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