Remember God

Sometimes I have trouble remembering things. Do you? Jo Beth will ask me to stop on the way home from work and pick something up, and I’ll forget. Or I’ll intend to make a phone call or send a note to someone right away, but it will slip my mind for a day or so. Some folks have little tricks that help them remember things—and some just have top-notch people around them who make them look good by remembering what they forget!

When King Solomon advises his reader to “remember God,” he isn’t talking about making a note on your daily calendar that says “Remember God,” or writing on your mirror in lipstick: “Don’t forget the Father.” The Hebrew word he uses for “remember” doesn’t just mean to call something or someone to mind, it means to act decisively. When Hannah prayed for a child, we are told that “God remembered her.” But He didn’t just think of her and recognize her plight. He gave her a child! So to remember our Creator is to act on our knowledge of Him. Remember God in your youth—and act decisively. Solomon had a great beginning. He had wisdom. Discernment. The favor of God. But as a young man he failed to act decisively on his knowledge of God, and the end of his life reflected that failure. Instead of his life being a testimony of devotion to God, it became a testimony of spiritual erosion. He didn’t know it at the time, of course. But in hindsight, he could see it. Don’t become a victim of spiritual erosion. Remember God.