Free
by Darren Pope
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Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there (Deuteronomy 24:18).
Lazy summer breeze, sand tickling toes, wispy clouds mirror dancing waves. Drifting back, memories are free. It’s amazing how a random sound, sight or smell can transport us back to a past place. Our brains are wired to remember. In our brain, the hippocampus helps with memories of experiences and knowing people’s faces. The cerebellum makes sure we can recall how to do things, like driving a car or playing the piano. The prefrontal cortex is active in remembering little details and solving complex problems. God, our designer, created us to recall and remember, yet, we forget!
It can be annoying when we forget our car keys, passwords, pin codes or names. It can be a safety risk if we cannot remember whether we closed the garage door or switched off the oven! So, we find ways to remember. We stick a note on the fridge, write on our hands, create a phone reminder, set an alarm or ask for help – whatever it takes to just get this stuff done. It’s important to remember.
It’s important to remember where you work and live, how to get places and how to get back. Remembering birthdays, anniversaries, and special moments herald valuable celebrations. Remembering that we are created in God’s image, along with every other human on earth, reminds us that every person we encounter in our day is inherently valuable, special, loved, forgiven and important.
Remembering that Christ, fully human and fully God, bore our sin, suffered, died and rose to eternal life brings daily and eternal hope through his unconditional gift of grace. How do we respond? What are we called to do? Our response is to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. By grace, we are free. Free to remember. Free to serve.
Lord of all ages, Lord of my heart, thank you for loving me fully today. Help me to remember that I am free. Give me the heart to notice and value others. Bless my head, heart and hands as I serve today. Amen.
As a life-long learner, Darren has a heart to share the gospel through Lutheran education. He treasures time with family, is a mad VW Kombi fan, and loves to swim.
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