Deuteronomy 26:5,6
“You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation. ‘And the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us.'”
Moses instructed them to review their history before the priests and The Lord. Some of it was good, other parts were rough. The sum total was amazing. Here they were, back in the same land over four hundred years later. Now, instead of being a clan, they were a nation of twelve tribes. They were enslaved, but now a sovereign nation with a force that defeats the surrounding armies.
To review is important. We also are to review our past. We aren’t done. Even though our present position may not be impressive, we look upon it in faith. He will bring us through. We’ve at least been redeemed and forgiven. That in itself is huge.
Part of remembering is to see our lives before Christ. We’ve all come to Christ for a reason. Some reasons are more dramatic than others. We can all say that the change was good. A flash of hope. A new path. The start of a new life with a new trajectory. We don’t know what the future holds, but we know good stuff awaits.
Our lives are God’s work. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” The word “workmanship” is poema in the greek. We are His poem or His work of art. He takes pride in us. Much like we can look at the beauty in the clouds, so we are to be in awe of the great work He does in us.
Lord, help us not to forget, but to remember the all You’ve done for us.