Help Me Remember!
“And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?” (Mark 8:17-18)
When we think of sanctification – that process whereby God’s grace works in us a hatred of sin and a love for righteousness – we often think in terms of actions. Sanctification means “Stop drinking, stop drinking, and stop doing.” But what of our thoughts? And what of our feelings? Sanctification involves the whole man because God saves the whole man. In our day and age, nothing needs sanctification more than our memory. Some readers may respond that times have changed and that they cannot even remember their wife’s phone number any more. Though we may have moved some pieces of information to an “external hard drive,” we have not made our memory obsolete.
Consider the disciples. Here they are, riding away from the greatest feast their eyes have ever seen. Though they saw no way to feed the crowd in the wilderness, Jesus feeds 5,000 men with a few loaves and fishes. When the Pharisees come afterwards and demand a sign, Jesus rebukes their unbelief. The masses fed, the leaders rebuked – the disciples have tasted more than bread. They have tasted victory. Wouldn’t you remember this moment forever? How many men with hoary hairs atop their head have regaled me with championship victories from their youth? But wait a minute. Why can we remember our victories from ages ago, but the disciples forget this victory at the first sign of hunger?
The unsanctified memory remembers self; it does not remember Jesus. As hard ground refuses the dew and the rain, living and subsisting on its own store, so too does the hard heart and unsanctified memory refuse Jesus Christ. This simply will not do, especially if we are to avoid the “leaven of the Pharisees and Herodians” (8:15) and find a rich provision in the Bread of Life (8:20). As we are praying for our own holiness, we must pray for a holy memory that we may wholly remember God’s Word and God’s ways. Instead of focusing on the lack here and now, remember God’s past provision and His promised care. Like water dripping on a concrete patio, let each scene pass before your mind’s eye until it leaves a mark that cannot be removed. Remember.
