Monday Morning Music Ministry

5-5-25

Is there anything more embarrassing than running into somebody, or being introduced, and… it is someone who knows you already? Who picks up a previous conversation? But you don’t recognize the person? Before you know it, it’s too late to ask, “Excuse me, but who are you???” And nobody comes to your rescue…!

We have all been there.

One of my own solutions is quickly to ask if the person ever returned the hundred dollars I loaned. Of course I am informed that I have him or her confused with someone else; and I am told, emphatically, who this person is, after all. A good idea, and some day it even might earn me a C-note.

Seriously, we do go through life occasionally forgetting names, faces, mutual friends, and so forth. We are all busy, and, after all, there are more than 7-billion people in this world. Among the nuances in memory-functions, there is the “photographic memory,” a long-term phenomenon where facts and visual details are recalled to a great degree. It can be a blessing or curse; my father’s cousin had this ability, and was able, despite herself, to recite pages of books she had not seen, nor cared about, since years earlier. An “eidetic memory” is similar but involves the ability to recall penumbrances – not only a face and a person’s name, but when and where the parties met; what aromas were in the air; what music was played in the distance; what someone wore; and so forth to other irrelevancies. Theodore Roosevelt was graced with both gifts, enabling him to read and successfully be quizzed on a book he rapidly scanned; and to recall minute details about folks he met in a crowd decades previous.

So who can expect us to recall everybody, every name, every event, every detail…? Is there anyone who can remember, and know, everything about you, down to the last detail? Things you don’t even know about yourself?

Well, God can.

Don’t dismiss that with a “Oh, sure. God can do anything.” There are implications we ought to… remember. The Bible provides prompts and memory-jogs, in case you forgot:

He knows us so well that He counts the hairs on our heads. Is that even useful? God thinks so; but anyway it is something that God does because He can.

He knows our innermost thoughts. No, you don’t have to talk in your sleep. It is something that God does because He can.

He knew us from the moment we were conceived; He knew us in our mothers’ wombs; He loved us, loves us, and will love us all the days He has called us to, going forward. It is something that God does because He can. (And something to remember when abortions are discussed…)

I invite you to reverse the course of such things in your mind. No, we are not God so we cannot exercise such miraculous powers of recollection. But how often do you remember God… how well do you know Him?… how close is He to you?

“A constant Friend is He” – is that the God you know? Continuously at your side?

Is He an ever-present help in times of trouble… or do you tend to turn to Him only when you have troubles?

Do you have communication with God throughout the day? Do you remember that He yearns to know not only the burdens of our hearts, but He delights in our joys too? You can have earnest, formal prayers… but you also can just-plain chat with Him!

When you see someone who is hurting or alone or suffering or needs spiritual sympathy, aid, and nurture… do you remember that you should see God in that person – or a “God hole” that needs to be filled?

Is God someone you only occasionally remember? Do you recall that Jesus wants to be your Savior… but also your Friend? Have you remembered that the job description of the Holy Spirit is not only to empower you, but to… comfort you, as only a true Friend can do?

This God we are discussing loves you so much He sacrificed His Son to cover the debt of your sins. Yet… we are told that if we treat Him like a stranger, He will say, “Away! I never knew you!”

What a Friend we have in Jesus. “He stands at the door and knocks” – we don’t even have to beg at His door to enter into communion. Let Him in… and don’t let Him out!

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Click: What a Friend We Have in Jesus