#5 Grace for Broken Memories

If you struggle with your past, you are not alone. There is a direct connection between our memory and our minds/thinking. Our memories affect the way we think. For good or for bad. If you change the way past events are interpreted, you change the direction for the future. This is true on a personal level too. But divine influence must be brought to bear on our memories. God's Word must guide our interpretation of past events. This is what God is doing for Israel in our passage. God is exerting a divine influence upon the memories of this nation of Israel. God's grace was not to be a one time event for Israel, but it was to be a way of life for them. They were to live under the umbrella of grace. We need to remember. We have a need for remembrances, for our memories. Our memories are broken. This is why they need to be redeemed. We forget things we shouldn't. We also have selective memories. We misinterpret events. God gives us a method of remembrance. God gives instructions on how His grace is to be remembered. God has given His church today two signs of grace - baptism and the Lord's Supper. God's signs point to a specific object to be remembered - namely Himself. We see God's goodness and faithfulness in the body of Christ. God gave Israel a sign of two monuments not merely to commemorate an event, but to commemorate their God. God was to be the object that they remembered. This is true today. There isn't a person or a country that can stand against the will of God.