Yes, I Remember it Well. . .

Maurice Chevalier via last.fm

There is a song from a movie made long ago in which the gentleman tells how he remembers an event and he gets all the details wrong. Here is the first verse:


Honore: We met at nine
Mamita: We met at eight

Honore: I was on time
Mamita: No, you were late
Honore: Ah, yes, I remember it well

Honore:We dined with friends
Mamita: We dined alone
Honore: A tenor sang
Mamita: A baritone
Honore: Ah, yes, I remember it well

Honore:That dazzling April moon!
Mamita: There was none that night
And the month was June
Honore: That's right. That's right.
Mamita: It warms my heart to know that you
remember still the way you do
Honore: Ah, yes, I remember it well

I REMEMBER IT WELL
From "Gigi" (1958)
(Lyrics : Alan Jay Lerner / Frederick Loewe)

It is a cute song, but it is so insightful about memory. We can be so certain we remember an event a particular way and that we are absolutely right, and then find out that someone else remembers the even totally differently with the same passion and conviction (of course, they are wrong, aren't they?)

Memory is a mysterious thing. I remember very little about my childhood and I wonder if the few things I do remember are things I really remember, or do I remember being told about them? I have some memories of elementary school, none of which are really those warm, fuzzy things we like to remember. Rather, the things that other kids inflict upon us that we would like to forget but that stay with us all our lives. My memory doesn't really gel up until high school and even then things are blurry.

Having said that, there are things I can remember with perfect clarity. The day, as a six year old, I put my favorite little blanket on the garbage can outside. I stood in the storage room and watched the garbage men carry it away. I remember as a child finding a forgotten Christmas present late one Christmas afternoon and then having the glee of finding out it was for me. I remember my wedding day as if it was yesterday, and the day that each of my children and grandchildren were born. I even remember the day sweet little Sparrow came to be a part of our family. So how come when I walk to the other end of the house, I can't remember why I walked in there?

As much as memory in our minds confounds me, memory with the Lord is even more amazing. The Lord knows everything. There is not a single secret in the universe to Him, "for He knoweth the secrets of the heart". He knows the location, position and charge of every atom in every piece of matter everywhere. He knows and keeps count of the number of hairs on everyone's head. Yet the Scriptures tell us,
" And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Jeremiah 31:34"

The Lord will remember our sin no more. He will choose not to remember our sin. The God who made everything and who upholds all things by the Word of His power, will choose not to remember our sins! He does not forget our sins, He chooses not to remember. Why would He do this?

There is only one reason.

He chooses not to remember our sins because the penalty that was paid for those sins was infinitely sufficient. The blood of the Lord Jesus shed upon the cross was completely sufficient to purchase our salvation and justification and the Lord can choose to forget our sins because He laid them all upon His Son.

I may have trouble remembering where I put things, or if I took my medicine, but there is one thing I don't have any trouble remembering. There is a Man in Heaven today with nail wounds in His hands and feet and a spear wound in His side because He "became sin" for me. I don't understand that, but yes. . . I remember it well.

"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21"