Remember When …

We were in the Netherlands for three weeks during the spring of this year. On the evening of May the fourth, there were ceremonies, which were shown on television, to remember the people who had died in conflicts in which the Dutch were involved. We remembered soldiers, Jews, and people who had shielded Allied airmen who had been shot down during bombing raids during World War II. Also during the war, the Dutch East Indies archipelago was invaded and occupied by the Japanese, and people who died in Japanese concentration camps were remembered. There were also people who died during the conflict with the Indonesians, as we know them now, who fought for their independence between 1945 and 1949. Soldiers who perished in the conflicts in Afghanistan and the Balkans were also included. Then on the fifth of May, the papers recalled that on May 5th, 1945, the occupation of the Netherlands was over after five desperate years.

So many memories were recalled by descendants of those remembered. A few of the ones who survived were there, but most have passed on. But how great it was that their descendants were told and were able to tell their stories. Some of the stories had been passed on from generation to generation and were being told by the grandchildren of those involved. They were very moving indeed.

Then, I began thinking about all that the apostles of Jesus went through with Him and the memories that they had. I'm sure that when they met in the years after Jesus' ascension, they quite often said, "Remember when …?

I can imagine some of them sitting around discussing the things which were so important to them as they recalled the time that they had spent with Jesus. They may have talked about His birth and His death. They likely talked about the parables that Jesus told the people and the sick whom He cured. I'm sure that they would have recalled a great number of events which had taken place. The apostle John remembered that Jesus had told them:

John 14:26 – But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (NKJV)

The result was that the gospel writers were inspired to write down those memories for all of us to read, even now. Those wonderful words of Scripture tell us about those events which happened so many years ago and which are so important to us right here, right now. Let us pay attention to those words and obey those commands for holy living, for they were specifically written for our instruction.

Prayer: Our Father, we thank You for people who keep our history alive and for all who were inspired to write the words of Scripture, which give us comfort now and lead us in the way of eternal life. We offer this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen.