Remembering in the Bible

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.

2 Peter 1:12

Being reminded of something you already know gets annoying fast. So, when Peter says, “I intend to always remind you of what you already know and are firmly established in,” it looks like a formula for frustration.

But “remembering” in the Bible is much more than being able to recall something that happened. When Peter describes a person who professes faith but never grows, he says that he has “forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (1:9). But if you went up to this person and said, “Jesus died for your sins,” he or she would say, “I already know that.”

The problem is not that he cannot recall forgiveness, but that his forgiveness doesn’t mean much to him anymore. It is no longer something that is real and alive, fresh and present for him. It is no longer shaping his life.

When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He took the bread and the wine, and said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). What does it mean to remember the Lord Jesus? If you never took communion again for the rest of your life, would you forget that Jesus died on the cross?

Of course not! But Jesus wants His death and resurrection to be more than something you can recall. He wants you to savour its blessing, taste its goodness, and experience its power. He wants you to live in the sufficiency of all that He has accomplished for you.

Have you “remembered” Jesus’ death and resurrection this week? Have you savoured its blessing? Tasted its goodness? Experienced its power?