Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you…
DEUTERONOMY 4:23
I am frequently distracted. I have to use a series of timers, calendar alerts, and alarms to keep me aimed at any task at hand. I’m guilty of starting many things with good intentions and never finding my way to seeing any of them all the way through. I forget things. Sometimes, I forget the unforgettables. I do, however, find some solace in the company of my fellow forgetors.
At the risk of oversimplifying the Bible a bit, one way to understand the nature of the relationship between God and his people is as follows:
God remembers his people. God’s people forget him.
God is constantly in loving pursuit of people who fail to remember his work of the past. When people forget him, they wander away. They make choices they’ll later regret. They seek out weaker gods that promise everything and deliver nothing. So, God says, “be careful not to forget” — as if it would be easy to do so.
To look at the Hebrew Bible, we see a God who apparently loves to give his people a ton of seemingly bizarre festivals and rituals. All of these are simply ways of retelling the story of God’s ongoing rescue and restoring power and love. These practices help the people to remember their God. People who can remember, can be thankful.
To be thankful is a rather obvious instruction for this weekend. So instead of re-hashing the list of things for which you are thankful, consider creating a simple, annual ritual of remembering this holiday weekend. Before the chip-n-dip, before the football games, after the clean-up, before bed, whenever. Pause. Remember. Tell the story of God’s love and rescue — even when the light of that memory may have faded to a mere glimmer. Stoke the fire of that small spark and remember. Then, you may find a deeper thankfulness than you knew was there.
See you soon,
Jeff
