Wednesday, March 11, 2015

In our last visit we began amplifying Peter’s focus in the second half of 2nd Peter 1: How does a believer discover and use the key to an abundant life in Christ Jesus? He does this by sharing his purpose for writing this book, his experience that he wanted them to tap into, and his authority base that he wanted them to understand to maintain their faith. We considered his purpose for writing this book: Remind them, in order to refresh their memory, so they’d always remember. We should never resist being reminded of what we already know and are firmly established in. As a discipler of younger believers I often found their questions about basic truths refreshed my memory of things I’d by and large forgotten. That’s why it’s important to build relationships with others and get together on a regular basis to remind each other of things we know but maybe do not presently have clearly in mind. This is why it’s important to memorize and meditate on what we already know. Psalm 1 describes how important this is for maintaining a fruitful life. It is why the Psalmist wrote Psalm 78 to challenge parents with the importance of reminding their children and grandchildren about God’s praiseworthy deeds and power, and the wonders he has done, as well as his statutes and laws. Moses also taught parents to keep the commandments of God on their hearts, and impressed on their children. Talk about them regularly and write them out so they will never be forgotten. Peter was right: Remind, to refresh memory, in order to always remember.