Extraterrestrials, Sharpies, and…What Was that Other Thing?

I’m a big Doctor Who fan (Doctor Who is a long-running British Sci-Fi show). Some of my favorite episodes of Doctor Who were about a race of ugly, creepy extra-terrestrials known as The Silence, that, if encountered, you could see and hear them, but once you looked away you couldn’t remember them or what they might have told you to do. That was their big advantage for taking over the world.

Once the Doctor and his companions figured this out (it’s a long story), they had the ingenious idea to mark a tally on themselves with a Sharpie the moment they saw a Silent so they could later recall that they’d seen one. Eventually they invented these tiny audio recorders and embedded them in their hands which was a really cool idea that worked quite effectively……..but I digress.

The Silence episodes, though fictional, entirely portray the very real drama of my own ever-aging mind! I painfully admit there are times I have absolutely no recollection of particular events or conversations, as if they had been completely erased from my mind! As if I had encountered a Silent and looked away.

I’m sure in part there is some kind of psychological reason to blame, some deep-seated suppression of a childhood traumatic experience (I can’t think of any, but…then again, I do completely forget things), but more than likely it’s just age coupled with a severe lack of concentration. Can anyone relate? I really hope so!

Why Can’t I Remember?

Aging is undoubtedly a nuisance to the memory, but, if you think about it, age has an accomplice in the assault on our minds. The unrelenting busyness of our times and its onslaught of technology-overload – computers, smartphones and smartwatches, tablets, gaming, smart TV’s, streaming on any device, etc. – occupies so much of our minds, I believe, that some things – even important things – tend to get buried.

Add to that a pinch of stress. Throw in a half-cup of overwhelming circumstances. Toss in whatever else you can imagine and, voila! What was it I was making again?

Whatever the cause, the unfortunate fact is…we forget.

True. We can decide to work harder on remembering things. We can practice memorization skills. We can try and simplify our lives. We can even perform stress-relieving exercises. Of course, this should help some. But as humans we will still forget.

God Understands This

You know how I know? Throughout scripture God is persistently telling people (both directly and through His servants), “Don’t forget!” “Remember!” “Do this lest you forget!” “Do this in remembrance of Me!” This is an enormous theme throughout Scripture, but particularly in the Book of Deuteronomy.

One moment that sticks out to me is when Moses was giving what was possibly the most epic speech of his life. At one point in the speech he instructed the people of Israel:

These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

God obviously knew how helplessly forgetful people are so He explicitly stressed through Moses the incredible importance of reminders.

We need reminders!

You know this. We remind ourselves about little things all the time.

Reminders to pick something up at the grocery store.

Reminders to pick someone up.

Reminders to do tasks at work.

Reminders for meetings, appointments, and phone calls.

We do this because there are so many menial tasks that have just got be done! Who can keep track of all that stuff? But, think about this…

(Rhetorical question alert!) How much more important is it that we use reminders to keep fresh in our minds what Jesus has done for us? Our forgetfulness of His love, grace, mercy, great salvation, power, etc., will not only foster ingratitude and spiritual deficiency, but the next generation and those that follow will suffer tremendously. This is apparently very important to God. So He says:

Talk of His mighty works when you wake up and when you go to bed.

Teach these words to your kids.

Tie a string around your finger (or get out that Sharpie!).

Write them down where you’ll see them wherever you walk in and out every day!

Memorial Stones

I love the book of Joshua. I love the story of the crossing of the Jordan River on dry ground (God parted these waters like He did the Red Sea years earlier) as they were heading toward the Promised Land.

After everyone had crossed over, God told Joshua to have the priests take twelve stones from the bed of the river (one for each tribe) and build a memorial. Why? Because He knew they’d forget!

Why was it so important that they not forget? Well, honestly, there are many reasons, but here it’s expressly for the sake of the next generation. After receiving instructions from the Lord, here’s the explanation Joshua gave to the priests about why they were building the memorial:

When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever (Joshua 4:6-7).

Oh My Toes!

This is personally so convicting. This forces me to ask myself what “memorial stones” have I set up for the sake of my own kids and grandkids that tell the story of the mighty hand of God. How am I demonstrating to them and teaching them to fear, serve, and love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and strength?

The author of Psalm 44, a psalm of the Sons of Korah, revealed the impact of this in his own life. “O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds You have performed in their days, in the days of old…”

Because of this, he could later declare in verse four, “You are MY King, O God,” and in verse six could proclaim, “I do not trust in my bow nor could my sword save me, but YOU have saved us from our foes.”

As it did for the faith of this psalmist, the faith of our next generation rests on whether or not we remember and tell them all about it!

So, how has God brought about salvation in your life? Do you remember? In what ways has He parted a Red Sea or Jordan River for you? From what enemies has He saved you? How has He performed miracles?

How has He fed you?

Clothed you?

Sheltered you?

Kept you?

Take time to remember these things. Like me, you may need to create some reminders. Then, go tell it to your kids and your grandkids. You may have some great ideas for this! If you do, please comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Need a Sharpie?