REMEMBERING LIFE AND LIVING

Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,  and the golden bowl is broken;before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,  and the wheel broken at the well,and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 12.6-7

This series will mainly deal with metaphors of life and living. It is God who has given us life, and he decided to do so long ago, even while we were still in the womb of our mother. Note Psalm 139.13:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

God remembered the covenant he made with Noah (Genesis 9.15) and said it was with “all living creatures of every kind” as well. He also remembered the covenant he made with Abraham when he destroyed the cities of the plain and brought Lot out of the catastrophe (Genesis 19.29).

He remembered Rachel (Genesis 30.22) and Hannah (1 Samuel 1.19) and enabled them to conceive. He also remembered his covenant with the Israelites (Exodus 6.5) and all those he brought out of Egypt (Leviticus 26.49) when they were slaves (Deuteronomy 15.15).

He does not forget because “He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations” (1 Chronicles 16.16).

However, there are things we don’t want God to remember. I echo the prayer of David, “Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.” (Psalm 26.7) 

Instead, we should “Remember how fleeting is my [our] life.” As we examine our natures and our cultures, we may often ask the question: For what futility you have created all humanity!” (Psalm 89.47)

Despite the wickedness of the world, God remembers how we were formed from dust (Psalm 103.14) and that we are under his control. Despite our condition, God assures us that “our low estate His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136.23)

Our desire should be to live before and with God in such a way that we please him. We should want to repeat Hezekiah’s prayer, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” (Isaiah 38.3)

Of course, it would be a supreme hyperbole to say that I have walked faithfully and only done what is good in God’s eyes.

In the following weeks my essays are intended to remind us of how our lives should be drawn from God and towards Him. Our lives can “blossom and bloom” or they can “wilt” and be blown away. 

“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.” (Habakkuk 3.17-19)

Karl Franklin