The human brain has an amazing capability to store millions of bits of information. This information/data is kept in perfect order and ready to recall when needed. Back in my primary school years, I remember once memorising a big chunk of my notebook and recalling it in my mind during an examination. I was able to pick out exactly what I needed from that note in mind so to answer all the exam questions perfectly. Our God-given ability to memorise is something to be marvelled at. But also, the human brain is very capable (whether deliberately or involuntarily) of forgetting. Consciously or unconsciously, we forget things. That’s the way the human mind works.
It is often the case that whenever something is too unpleasant, too shameful for us to entertain, we erase it from our memories. But perhaps, the imprint is always there. Nevertheless, we all remember what is important to us. Having dealt with the Israelites, God knows how fickle our memories can be and how we tend to forget things that can be very important to Him. I think this is Probably, why one of the most repeated words throughout the scripture is the word, – “Remember!” God wants us to remember what is important to him. Again and again, Scripture reminds us not to get so comfortable in man’s city that we lose sight of our eternal destination.
I’ve never seen anyone go into a train station and camp there for the rest of their natural life or get on a train for the sole purpose of living on it. But so many Christians are doing just that, camping at a train station not realising that there is a destination. Where a person is going to spend his or her eternity is far more important than where they are going to spend their next few years of life. As believers, we may be in this world, but we are not of it. Our citizenship truly is in heaven. We as Christians are a pilgrim, we are travelling, on a journey. And along our way as we travel this treacherous road called life, many of us are:
- Exhausted and needs God’s grace and rest
- Grieving over our nation and needs God’s sovereign intervention
- Suffering physically and needs God’s healing touch
- Puzzled by our circumstances in which we find ourselves and needs God’s direction.
- Anxious about the future and desperately needs God’s assurance.
- Fearful of what is around the corner and needs God’s guiding hand.
- Poor and needy, and in need of God’s provision
- Broken and sorrowful, and in need of God’s comfort.
- In torn marriages and homes, and need God’s healing hand
God never promised us a smooth sailing in the sea of life. On the journey to Heaven, we were never promised row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Not at all! But, He did promise to work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Without a shadow of a doubt, this good that Paul is talking about will be worked out only for those (the believers) who truly love God.
Someone once said that there are only two types of Christians, there are those who are travelling with the will of God, and there are those who are travelling against the very will of God. The apostle Paul said we’ve been bought with a price, which means God has 100% ownership of our lives. And thus, when we are making a decision, or in whatever we do, we should be completely conscious of God and of his word and of his spirit, and we should completely conscious of making that decision or whatever we do with one thing in mind – the glory of God.
If you study the life of Abraham very carefully, you are going to find that whenever he was at the centre of the will of God, he did two things: Firstly, he pitched his tent and secondly, he built an altar. Significantly to Abraham, a tent was a symbol of being vulnerable to the will of God. A tent was a symbol that he was ready for the Lord’s call anytime. A tent was a symbol of the fact that he was a sojourner on a pilgrimage.
The altar Abraham built was made from stone, symbolising the durability of his friendship and fellowship with God. The altar indicated the permanence of his relationship with Yahweh. In the Bible, there are mainly three purposes of which an altar is built. Firstly, an altar was built to serve as a place where a person meets God, and God meets with that person. Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Jacob and so many others built an altar to serve as a place for meeting with God. Secondly, an altar was built to serve as a place of sacrifice. And lastly, an altar was built to serve as a place of prayer. Question – Where is your altar?
“Heavenly Father, remember the traveler, bring us safely home”
In Christ Alone 