Try to Remember

My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands.
Proverbs 3:1

The other day in church we had a family baptizing their baby, which, as so many random things do, got me thinking. We baptize as an outward symbol that our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is a memorial of the life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God for the forgiveness of our sins.

In the Methodist Baptismal Covenant, we reaffirm our rejection of sin and our commitment to Christ. Though we aren't the ones getting wet, we remember our baptism, remember that our sins have been washed away. We also pledge to intermix our lives with the child as a family under Christ. But what I was thinking mostly about was, should we remember our baptism more often.

Think about this, at the Last Supper Jesus said, as he broke the bread and said, "Take, eat; this is my body which is given to you. Do this in remembrance of me." And the he lifted the cup and said "Drink from this all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." I take these word from Jesus as a command that every time we eat and drink, remember what Jesus did for us. He came as a man, though completely God to live and die for our sins.

And why do should we do this at every meal? Because we are a forgetful people. We are actually very good at forgetting. We forget important things that effect our own lives, wedding anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas. We also forget things as a whole, thousands of years of history, we edit the past to better suit what we want now, instead of learning from it. We forget the value of hard work for the small but quick buck. We are forgetful and too stubborn to remember. Even the Jews, while wandering the desert for 40 years, would forget God. That was no small feat considering he was present in a pillar of smoke and flame.

So if we are to remember at every meal, so that we don't so easily forget the love God has for us and that our sins were forgiven, should we not also, as we bathe and wash ourselves daily remember our baptism, our faith, and our rejection of sin? I think we should do this. Every morning, or evening if you are one of those people, while we wash ourselves clean, we should also prepare our hearts and remember that we have been forgiven, and work hard each day to reject the sin that is ever so pervasive in our lives.

This combined with active prayer all day long, and remembering communion at each meal, I think we can change the world. Change the view of what Christians are to the world, and flood the whole world with a love so deep and true that love, joy, hope, and peace will cover the earth in a kingdom like none the earth has ever seen.