A Loving Memory

“Mem’ries, light the corners of my mind. Misty, water colored mem’ries of the way we were…”

Be glad, be very glad, that this is in print and you don’t have to hear me sing love songs like Barbra Streisand.

In February the big red heart decorations start showing up which remind us of Valentine’s Day which causes us to think about LOVE. And love makes us remember old songs sometimes that cause us to think about when we were once young and in love.  But the problem is that often our memory isn’t all that good.  I’m not talking about me forgetting to do whatever chore I promised Brenda I would do either.  I’m talking about memories that light the corners of my mind – it must be very dimly lit.  I (and you can feel free to include yourself in this as well) often have; what’s the nice way to say it; a distorted view of the past.  What I remember may not necessarily be exactly how things occurred.

For instance, I can honestly say that I have no memory of my children flagrantly, defiantly disobeying me.  Did that ever happen?  I feel certain it has, and if I tried real hard, i might could come up with something. But iIdon't want to. Once they move out of my house and are well on their way to being responsible young adults who love the Lord, my memories of them get more and more pleasant.  It may be senility, but I think it’s more like what the Psalmist wrote. "Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to Your love remember me, for You, Lord, are good." Psalm 25:7  I love them SO MUCH!

David was asking God not to remember all the times he screwed up or all the times he willfully disregarded Him and His directions. Instead, “according to Your LOVE remember me…” is David’s prayer.

I DO have pretty clear memories of the sins of my youth, and my young adulthood, and middle age, last year and last week.  It seems those memories are way too clear for me.  You don’t have to argue with me to convince me that I have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  I know that full well. And God knows that even better than I do.  But how nice is it that God is a loving parent! Jesus, the dearly loved Son, took my sins and died to remove my sins as far as the east is from the west. Because I’m with Jesus, God remembers me according to His LOVE. You, Lord are GOOD!