Remember: Christians must not ail from spiritual amnesia, for remembering is an essential part of our faith in the Lord.[1] This is evident in the ordinance of communion in which the Lord said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” More than that, it is near impossible to walk in love or to walk in wisdom if we habitually forget Christ’s self-sacrifice for us (Eph. 5:2) or the will of the Lord revealed through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:17-18). Moreover, we cannot continue as disciples if we are forgetful of our new life in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), our identity as children of the holy God (1 Pet. 1:14-16), or the Lord’s call to enter through the narrow gate (Matt. 7:13) and to take up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23). Forgetting was the pitfall of the Israelites;[2] Peter diligently reminds us lest we stumble as they did.

Scripture: Scripture is not cheap; it comes to us with blood-earnestness (1:15). Its aim is that we stay reminded of its precious truths (3:1). We need this source of reminder because we are forgetful creatures. We come to the brook and drink; we find refreshment; we wander off, and are once again athirst and we wonder where the water has gone. It is wisdom to make one’s habitation by the water-brooks. The tree that is firmly planted by streams of water bears fruit (Ps. 1:3). Fruitfulness and godliness are the product of a constant feeding on the Word of God with delight and meditation (Ps. 1:2). Scripture is our constant stream. May we never be far from it.

[1] Consider the Shema (Deut. 6:4-5). What follows immediately afterward is the call to remember even with mnemonics like Phylacteries and Mezuzahs (Deut. 6:6-9). Consider other memorials: the Passover (Ex. 12:14), jar of manna (Ex. 16:33), Aaron’s rod (Num. 17:10), and the 12 stones from the Jordan (Josh. 4:3, 20).

[2] Notice their faith in Exodus 14:31 becomes a total distrust by the fifteenth of the following month (Ex. 16:1-3). It is no wonder that in Psalm 106:12-21, their indictment is this: “They forgot God their Savior.”