Daily Devotions
“Do this in remembrance of Me.” Luke 22
A popular song of recent years bears the title “Memories.” America seems caught in a wave of nostalgia in which “the good old days” are remembered as bright and untarnished. Antique cars, painted milk cans, barn wood, old movies, and baseball trading cards attract keen interest and stir memories in our mind. But nostalgia and history sometimes come into conflict. History records the problems and pain, the failures and disasters, as well as the successes and blessings.
The psalmist covers both kinds of memories when he asks God, “Remember, O LORD, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old” and then adds, “Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways” (Psalm 25:6-7). He recognizes that because of sin our past record needs to be forgotten. Repentant, he depends on God to remember His steadfast love and forget those sins. God sent His Son to pay for them so that He could say, “I will … remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
In our text we hear Jesus in the upper room instituting the supper of His body and blood. He says to the disciples and to us, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” We remember Him regularly as we go to the Sacrament. What a great focus for our memeories – regular worship in God’s house, hearing His unchanging Word and receiving His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins!
PRAYER: Thank you Lord God, for the mercy and love which You have given me. Help me to remember and praise You always. Amen.
(Devotions from “My Daily Devotion” by Dr. Stephen J. Carter, copyright 1988 CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend. For ordering information, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit www.cph.org.)