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Lou Coleman-Yeboah
By Lou Coleman-Yeboah
Yes, we need to remember the importance of what we believe. We need to be stirred up, and gripped by the reality of it. For we should never, no never! Forget the toils and dangers. We should always cherish them and tell the history of our suffering in the cause of freedom. For if we have no memory, we are adrift because memory anchors us to the past, interprets the present, and charts a course for the future. And so, being reminded of the truth is critical. Don’t let the deceitfulness choke your life so as to forget where you came from. Remember what you know. Remember the day we came out of Egypt. [Matthew 13:22]. It’s in the Word [Deuteronomy Chapter 8]. Moses was having a little talk with the Israelites, they were getting ready to come up, out of 40 years of being in the wilderness, yeah, 40 years of trials, tribulations, and hardships and they were getting ready, to enter the blessed land of Canaan, but before it was time to go, God wanted them to be reminded of a few things, Moses says, first of all, that thou shall remember, the long way that God has bought thee, remember, where you came from, and he says that it was to test thee, to humble thee, to prove what was in thine heart, whether thou would keep thy commandments or not, as God’s chosen people. We are to remember…lest we become tempted to return back to our old way of life. You see, every time Israel forgot what Egypt was really like, they got the itch to go back. For this reason God asked them to have an annual event to “remember the day they came out of Egypt! The importance of remembering and being reminded of truth – BLACK HISTORY!
Without remembering the past we have no future, and present comes meaningless. Past victories gives us hope for the future when we need it in the present! Don’t forget to Remember! You see, the Bible commands that one generation should praise the Lord’s works to another [Psalm 145:4] The Bible commands that fathers should teach the history of Israel and the wonderful works of God to the children, so that future generations would know God’s acts in history, and “set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God” [Psalm 78:1-70]. The Bible commands believers to “Remember the days of old” and what took place in previous generations, so that it might inform our current realities [ Deuteronomy 32:7]. This generation and future generations need to understand what God has done in previous generations to deliver His people from darkness and bring them into the light. The Christian slaves understood that they were grafted into the family of Abraham and they made Israel’s story, their story. How did the slaves endure, overcome, and find hope while being in physical bondage for over 200 years? They learned the story of Israel having been delivered from Egyptian slavery. They heard sermons based on the story. They originated songs based on the story. Don’t forget to remember – BLACK HISTORY!
