Remember. How many times does that word appear in Scripture? Remember.
As I grow older, I have more frequent lapses of memory. Having “a senior moment” as they say. I can make repeated trips to get something because when I get to where that something is and find something else that needs doing and forget the something I went for, I have to go back where I started to remember what I went after in the first place. Does that sound familiar? Well, if it doesn’t – your day will come. Friends and I laugh about our memory lapses.
God in His great wisdom understood how easily we forget. Hence, He gave us our senses — sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste — to stir our memories. And He used every sense when He designed worship. His detailed design made full use of the senses: the gorgeous colors, music, presenting the sacrifices, incense, and feasting.
Rick and I don’t worship in a Temple or Cathedral, but even in our church on the corner of a main street in a small town, worship is a sensory experience. As I sit in a pew each Sunday, I see the cross and it reminds me of Jesus’ sacrifice, His death to atone for my sins, His resurrection. We have communion every week in our church. I hold the emblems and hear the meditation and prayer, then taste the bread and fruit of the vine remembering what happened between Jesus and His disciples at the last supper in the upper room. Jesus wasn’t just speaking to those twelve. He was speaking to me and you, His Words filled with promise coming down through the centuries.
Fall is here, and right outside the doors of our church is a row of maple trees turning red, orange-pink and yellow. Birds sing. The air is chill and misty, making our skin tingle. Breathe it in and taste the freshness. Every day is a sensory experience meant to enrich our lives.
Remember God, the giver of so many gifts we enjoy daily. Remember. Give thanks. Remember. Praise Him, the One who made each of us so awesomely and wonderfully unique and complex.