August 12 - Reminders

      2 Peter 1:12-15 – "So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. I will make every effort to see that after my departure, you will always be able to remember these things."  
      2 Peter 3:1 – "Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking."  NIV, © 1973

      I use to work for a government agency in the operations division, which meant that there was round-the-clock work. This also meant that the work shifts were only eight hours. Work breaks were designated due to this structure. Every day around 2:45, I would take my afternoon 15-minute break. My usual custom was to read my Bible while on break. One day, a middle-aged man asked me why I read my Bible every day. I told him that I needed to remind myself how to think and act.

      Peter, in his second letter, tells his audience that he is reminding them of things that they already knew, because they were deeply rooted in the truth. If deeply-rooted Christians needed to be reminded, how much more so new Christians in the faith!

I think that Peter recognized what a later hymn-writer would pen in "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing": "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love." I think that one reason for that penchant to wander is that we do not remind ourselves daily of the promises of God, our standing in his family, or what God requires of us daily. We need to discipline ourselves in reminding ourselves!

      Jeremiah 17:9 says that the human heart is deceitful above all things. Paul reminds us in I Cor. 10:12 – "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall". Jesus reminds us in several places to "be on our guard" – Matt 16:11,12; Matt. 10:17; Luke 21:36, e.g. These verses are given to us as warnings; reminding ourselves how to think and act will help in avoiding these pitfalls.

      So, don't forget to remind yourself daily of the truths in God's word.