by Sue Allen
Remember
Dad was homebound and in Hospice care during the last year of his life. When I visited him, we often shared “remembering” conversations. From the comfort of his recliner, he recalled events of his 96 years – childhood summers at the family cabin on Lake Ontario, military service, meeting and marrying Mom, moving the family from upstate NY to St Petersburg, the hobbies and travels he and Mom shared in their retirement years. Intermingled with these happy times were remembrances of tough decisions, disappointments, loved ones lost. As he took those armchair journeys through his life, he frequently closed his eyes and smiled or chuckled quietly. There were always many more happy memories than difficult ones.
In a similar way, we remember the life of Jesus when we read the Gospels. We relate to Jesus as we see the happy and difficult times woven through His life. The Gospels tell of Jesus’ joy in celebrating a wedding, gathering children in his arms, teaching his disciples; as well, there were sorrows of betrayal, rejection, humiliation.
During the season of Lent, remembering the stories of Jesus’ life, the joys and sorrows, we are reminded that our God is faithful and loving. In Jesus’s final days, as He moved toward the cross, he trusted God’s plan, was obedient to God’s will, and never stopped showing care and compassion to those around Him. Jesus saw past the sorrows, to the promise of eternal joy. Because we know the Gospels’ stories, we have that same confidence. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Prayer: Loving God, thank you for the stories and words of Jesus in the Gospels. They hold lessons for our lives, of obedience, trust, forgiveness, and so much more. They draw us closer to God and remind us we are loved with an everlasting love.
Challenge/Meditation: Skim through one of the Gospels today and remember the love of God through the stories of Jesus.
Hymn: “I Love to Tell the Story”, verses 1 and 4, lyrics by Katherine Hankey, 1868
I love to tell the story of unseen things above, Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love; I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true, It satisfies my longings as nothing else would do.
Refrain: I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story, of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story, for those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest;
And when in scenes of glory I sing the new, new song, ’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.
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