When the French government did not support the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 we heard much murmuring about how ungrateful were the French. After all didn’t American troops push the Nazis from French soil in WWII? Restaurants were selling Freedom Fries instead of French Fries. How quickly we forget our history. During this time I did not hear one radio or television commentator mention that almost 6,000 French troops fought with George Washington against the British at Yorktown in 1781 resulting in General Cornwallis’s surrender. Without the French we might be singing “God Save The Queen” instead of the “Star Spangled Banner.”
How very important it is for us to know our past. This is true for our nation and also for our personal walk. We can only go wisely into the future if we understand how God has led us in the past. In the Old Testament we find the patriarchs building altars to commemorate great moments with God. We have memorials both physical and chronological. God even put a time memorial in the midst of the Ten Commandments that men would remember we are created and are not the product of lightning striking some primordial pool of slime.
We celebrate birthdays and anniversaries to mark the milestones of life. Each year we celebrate both the death and resurrection of our Jesus. I have friends who can tell me the very day they accepted Jesus as their savior. Sometimes I envy them that because I grew up loving Jesus. I cannot remember a time when He was not important to me. Some of my friends tell me they envy me that. So it is that each of us has a unique experience that we should ponder lest we forget just how very important Jesus is to us.
Written by Roger Bothwell on August 24, 2009
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org