September 11, 2001 changed the world. And it changed us with it.
May we never forget how our world was changed on that fateful day. But may we also never forget that millions of people live in that kind of tragedy on a daily basis. May our remembrance spur us to action. May our action show the love of Christ to a dying world. And may our love lead to words that explain the True Word to a world that is lost without Him.
If I'm honest, though, I get really tired of only hearing about that day every year. It's the same articles, the same social media posts, the same "God bless America" that we hear every year. And it's tiring. It's burdensome. It doesn't diminish the loss that some people still feel as piercingly as they did twelve years ago.
This morning as I read through various things, as I thought about the impending action (of whatever form it eventually takes) in Syria, I weighed those things in my mind against all of the other events that occur daily around the world.
Governments force political agendas. Rebels fight for freedom. Children starve to death or die from the dehydration of uncontrolled diarrhea due to dirty water supplies. AIDS runs rampant. Suicide is skyrocketing.
It makes me wonder. Have we gotten so caught up in remembering one event or another that we've ignored present realities? Have we gotten so wrapped up in ourselves that we've neglected everyone else?
Remembering is a good thing. God continually called His people to remember. It's a major theme throughout the Old and New Testaments. It's something that we should do as we live our lives - remember the past events that brought us to the present ones.
But remembering also has a purpose. God didn't just tell His people to remember. He told them to remember so that they wouldn't sin against Him. He told them to remember so that He would receive the glory for the great things that HE had accomplished on their behalf. Remembering is both for our holiness and for His glory. Anything less is, well, sinful.
Even more than our purpose in remembering, is God's purpose in it. There are two aspects that I think we often forget about. First, God remembers His promises to us. And He keeps them. God blesses His people, not only in America but worldwide.
Second, and this cuts me deeply, don't forget about all the things that God chooses not to remember. He says through the Psalmist,
"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." [Psalm 103:8-12]In Christ, He offers us chance after chance after chance. He offers us complete forgiveness and forgetfulness in regard to our sin. In Christ, we are washed as white as snow, we are bound by sin and death no more, we are free to live in submission to Him as adopted heirs into His kingdom.
That is the kind of memory that I want to be known for. That is the kind of life that I want to live. One that remembers the past, but doesn't dwell in it. One that sees how far God has brought me, and honors Him rightly for His undeserved grace toward me. If God can do that for me, then my life should certainly reflect it to others.
That you might know Christ,
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