A Word for Our Arbor Family
Exodus 17:14 is a fascinating verse. "After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, "Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven."
Why would God want it written down? Why read it to Joshua? Joshua was there for all of it. Because they both needed to share the memory. Moses needed to tell it and Joshua needed to hear it again. Some memories are precious evidence of the love, power, goodness, and faithfulness of God. We need to repeatedly share them with each other. We all have seasons in life will we really need to remember what God is done.
There are other memories that we all have that, like the Amalekites, need to be forgotten. In my 75th year, I have hundreds of memories that need to go to the dump with the Amalekites. Mine include times where I was horribly wrong. I need to give those to God and embrace His grace. Where I was horribly wronged by someone, I need to do exactly the same thing… Give them to God and receive His grace. I must daily let them go.
Paul had some bad memories. He could've let them haunt him, but he learned to "unremember" those memories. In his letter to Philippians, Paul says he does this by, "… Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize, for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." (Philippians 3:13b–14)
The answer lies back in Exodus 17:14. Some memories are treasures to be guarded and cherished. Some, like the Amalekites, must be left where they fell. From them, we simply move on. We must learn, which is which. All too often, we talk too much about the wrong memories. Moses was told to let God "erase the memory of Amalek."
Why would God want it written down? Why read it to Joshua? Joshua was there for all of it. Because they both needed to share the memory. Moses needed to tell it and Joshua needed to hear it again. Some memories are precious evidence of the love, power, goodness, and faithfulness of God. We need to repeatedly share them with each other. We all have seasons in life will we really need to remember what God is done.
There are other memories that we all have that, like the Amalekites, need to be forgotten. In my 75th year, I have hundreds of memories that need to go to the dump with the Amalekites. Mine include times where I was horribly wrong. I need to give those to God and embrace His grace. Where I was horribly wronged by someone, I need to do exactly the same thing… Give them to God and receive His grace. I must daily let them go.
Paul had some bad memories. He could've let them haunt him, but he learned to "unremember" those memories. In his letter to Philippians, Paul says he does this by, "… Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize, for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." (Philippians 3:13b–14)
The answer lies back in Exodus 17:14. Some memories are treasures to be guarded and cherished. Some, like the Amalekites, must be left where they fell. From them, we simply move on. We must learn, which is which. All too often, we talk too much about the wrong memories. Moses was told to let God "erase the memory of Amalek."