Remembrance

            I am writing this on September 10, but tomorrow, September 11, is another one of those days that you are not supposed to forget. We have been reminded about that fact time and time again and now September 11 has taken its place among memorable days in the history of the United States of America. I, personally, have not been at any of the events but I know where I was when most of them took place if they did so during my life time. I wasn't at the Alamo or the sinking of the U. S. S. Maine or Pearl Harbor nor at Dallas when President Kennedy was assassinated or in any one of the three events during September 11. I do know where I was and what I was doing when I first learned of those events. Some things you remember even though you were not at the original event. First Corinthians 11:24-25 says, “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.” 

           I was not in Jerusalem during that terrible week when the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified but I do know where I was when I realized that when the Lord Jesus Christ died, He included me in that payment and now every Sunday, we purposely remember that event in a special service called “The Lord's Supper,” or “communion” or the “breaking of bread.” However you name it, it is still the event that took place where we purposely focus our attention on that event where His body was broken and His blood was shed for the payment of our sins. Now, I have been going to church since I was twelve years old and I have been a religious person, so to speak, all of those years. I sang in churches since 1955, in choirs since 1967, directed church choirs since 1968, been a deacon, been a Sunday School teacher, lead congregational singing, was a bus captain during the 70's, even passed out literature and witnessed to people, but then one Friday morning things were about to change. The message came home to roost in my own heart. I remember the motel, the room, the foot of the bed, the twp preachers who preached that morning, the scriptures they used and the conviction. I was not at the “last supper” nor the event of the crucifixion, but I know where I was when it was applied to my heart. For many of us, it is another day that we will never forget. We were not at the original event, but we know where we were when we heard about it and at that point in our life, it became real to us. On September 11, 2001, I was at my office in the church when our senior pastor's wife called and told us to turn on the TV set. We did so and then sat in silence as we witnessed the events of September 11.  I know where I was and it was at that point in the library of Bethel Baptist Church that an event occurred that I will never forget. There was another event however, that I will never forget and that was when they took the Son of God and nailed Him to a cruel cross and then suspended Him on that cross while He paid my debt by offering His shed blood until He cried out, “It is finished.” I wasn't there, but I will never forget it because it changed my life. Praise God today for the greatest event in History, the death, burial and RESURRECTION of the Lord Jesus Christ from the grave.