Therefore Remember
Dear LTCC Church Family:
I hope this finds you well.
I’ve just gotten back from a week-long family get-together in Ohio. Although vacation with four small children provides plenty of activity, it also lends itself to some moments of quiet thinking, even if it comes in small increments and ends abruptly. I thought I would share one encouraging thought—a type of meditation—that has been roaming through my mind over the last week.
The book of Ephesians, as we’ve been discovering, is a book that helps us recapture the breathtaking enormity of the Gospel. One of the subtle yet significant truths woven throughout the book is the reality that living “in Christ Jesus” means that we are always in the presence of God. This is actually a massive thought if we take a few steps back. One outworking of this truth is that we live first and foremost before God. If you are a follower of Jesus (living “in Christ Jesus”), God is always with you.
This is an encouraging truth and a sobering one too. It gives me great encouragement to know that God will never leave me on my own. I may feel alone at times, but the truth of Gospel tells me that God is always with me. But this reality also challenges me because I tend to forget that I live first and foremost before God. In Ephesians 2:11, Paul writes “Therefore remember…” There are very few moments in Ephesians where Paul offers an imperative. But this is one of those cases in which Paul urges Christians to never forget all of what God in Christ Jesus has done to repair the vertical and horizontal brokenness in our lives and world. Paul’s imperative to remember is an implicit statement that we human beings are forgetful people. We need to remember, says Paul, all of what God has done.
So let me leave you with a thought and encouragement. Amid the many things we carry, perhaps just asking God to help us never forget him in our day-to-day might actually be a very basic, yet profound way of acknowledging Him in our lives. Personally, I find that to be a meaningful starting point for each day. May God truly help us to “remember” all of who He is and what He’s done.
See you Sunday.
Nathan, for the elders.
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