The Importance of Remembering

"When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" ⁶He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

⁷Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

⁸Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, ⁹"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

¹⁰Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. ¹¹Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

¹²When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." ¹³So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." John 6:5-14

A few weeks ago at church our Pastor was gone, ministering elsewhere, and we had another elder in the church deliver the Sunday morning message. He did a fantastic job, so much so, that it's been over a week and I'm still thinking on the things he said. One of the things he talked on was the feeding of the five-thousand that Jesus did. He talked about some of the details, like how the people divided up into groups, and how the twelve disciples handed out all the food to all the people, and how long did we think it actually took to break and serve all the food that was handed out? It had to have taken some time, yet when all was said and done, a truly amazing miracle had taken place, and the disciples had taken an active part in it. I point out that bit about them taking an active part in the miracle, because it's amazing to read the Bible, and see that right after they left this crowd of people, it seems the disciples had forgotten what they had just witnessed and participated in. Not even a few hours after they watched God feed a multitude with a few loaves of bread and two fish, and they were already forgetting what they had witnessed.

"When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. ¹⁸A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. ¹⁹When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." John 6:16-20

Just like that, just a few hours later, the disciples were afraid of a storm, and afraid of Jesus walking on the water. Why? Just a few hours earlier they had seen Jesus perform an amazing miracle- in fact, they helped him do it. Yet, just like that, the wonder of that miracle escaped them and they reacted to their natural surroundings and forgot their faith.

It's the exact same way with us, and why it is so important for us to remember the things that God has done for us. We can be going along good, when the devil decides to poke a big stick at us, and we fear that stick, so we start running, and we pray to be delivered from that stick, and we pray with urgency and fear, because we don't want to be taken over. And sometimes this can go on for a long time (days, weeks, months, even years.), but then something stirs inside of us and it's like "oh,yeah, by the way, devil, that stick can't hurt me." Poof, it's gone, and we remember that with God before us, who can be against us.

So that's just one of the many reasons why we read our Bible's over and over. And that's why we tell stories of what God has done in the past, we're reinforcing our faith for the future. We're building that faith so that when the adversary does rise up, he have that faith built right in to know that God is always the victor. Always. It's like The Little Engine That Could. The more we tell our stories of faith, the more they become part of our very being. Just as that little engine told himself "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, " over and over, which eventually turned into "I know I can, I know I can, I know I can." I know I can, because I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. And more importantly, I know God can, and God will, every single time.

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength. " Philippians 4:13