A Reason to Remember

We, too, have a deliverer—not in Moses, but in Jesus (see Colossians 1:13). Do we contemplate the miracle of our salvation and new life in Christ? Or has it become commonplace?

Click here to listen to this devotional written and narrated by Cara Blondo.

Excited, I ran to my daughters, shouting, “Girls, come quick; two swans are here!”

“Yeah, we see them all the time when we kayak,” one replied. My daughters looked unimpressed.

We were at our favorite vacation spot, and since I rarely kayak, this was the closest I had been to the swans. I watched them with childlike awe and wonder as those beautiful creatures effortlessly glided along the water’s edge.

The contrast between my daughters’ reaction and mine made me recall a prayer from a devout older woman: “Lord, please freshen the familiar.” Whether it’s swans, Scripture, or our Savior’s sacrifice, we often lose our sense of wonder over what is familiar, don’t we? That may be one reason the psalmist, David, instructed himself to remember who God is and what He’s done. In Psalm 103, he wrote:

“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives

all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the

pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires

with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord 

is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. For as

high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who

fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our

transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:2-5, 8, 11-12, NIV).

In Psalm 103:2, the word forget can also mean to ignore or cease to care. According to Strong’s Definitions, it implies “to be oblivious of, from want of memory or attention.” When I read that definition, I couldn’t help but question how we could ignore such miraculous acts of grace. How could we forget them? I want to believe I would never stop caring about who God is or paying attention to what He has done. Yet, the Bible clarifies that it’s not only possible, it’s probable. God knows our tendency to forget. From biblical accounts and personal experiences, we know it, too.

In teaching the laws for the Israelites to observe in the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 6) and exhorting them to love the Lord their God with all their hearts, souls, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5), God warned His children not to forget Him. Through Moses, He instructed them to “be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Deuteronomy 6:12). Unfortunately, they did forget.

Friend, the Lord has set us free—not from Egypt, but from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).

We, too, have a deliverer—not in Moses, but in Jesus (see Colossians 1:13). Do we contemplate the miracle of our salvation and new life in Christ? Or has it become commonplace, like the swans familiar to my daughters?  

When we render the remarkable as ordinary, it is often the first step toward forgetting. To experience renewed wonder in our Savior, let’s remember who He is and all He’s done for us.

As you reflect on Psalm 103, thank God for the Cross, your salvation, and who He is. Consider listing the benefits you’ve experienced as His child. Revisit this list often and add to it.

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