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The Bible is a wonderful memory jogger ; Saturday thought [Herald, The (Plymouth, England)](Herald, The (Plymouth, England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MY WIFE and I took advantage of some recent good weather to revisit the area around Lynton and Lynmouth. It brought back many happy memories of family holidays exploring Exmoor and the coast. You know the sort of thing - cream teas, fish and chips, swimming in the streams, spotting deer, ducks turning up every morning at our tent for their breakfast! Our children, now in their forties, remember them too, especially the ducks! As a nation we have had some pretty serious memories recently as well; the D-Day Landings and the outbreak of World War One. It goes to show that memory is an important part of who we are. It shapes us and forms the background to our lives. As a Christian I constantly remember what God has done for me. I have found the Bible to be a wonderful memory jogger for all that God has done in creation, in human history and in his relationship with us human beings. At the very centre of our Christian worship is a simple act of remembrance involving bread and wine. We give it different names in different churches, but it is the same act of remembrance of the last meal Jesus took with his disciples before the crucifixion. He took these simple, everyday elements, bread and wine, as a powerful picture of what he was about to endure. The bread he broke, a picture of his broken body on the cross, the wine, a picture of the blood he was going to shed. And he asked his disciples, which now includes us, to do the same, breaking and eating the bread and drinking the wine, to remember, it is by his death that our sins can be forgiven. We can remember too, that three days later he rose from the dead, and so we have a tremendous hope for the future, that through faith in him, death will not hold us either. Whatever memories you have about your life, whether good or bad, I hope you will come to share other memories with your Christian family. I promise you, they are all good ones, based on the love that God has for you, demonstrated in his only son, Jesus. He accepts us as we are, but changes us into who we can become - dealing with all those issues from the past and assuring us of a wonderful future. Why not come to church and start making some good new memories for yourself ? (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |