Things Remembered

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So the angel said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a MEMORIAL before God.” (Acts 10:1-4; NKJV)

As a boy growing up, I used to look forward to this weekend. Not simply because I got the day off from school, but because our city held one of its very few parades: The Memorial Day Parade. Though our nation was engulfed in the Vietnam War at the time, I never really understood what Memorial Day meant. As a boy, all I cared about was seeing the marching bands and getting my parents to purchase a souvenir from a vendor.

Of course, as I got older I realized the seriousness of this holiday due to the sacrifices soldiers, both living and deceased, have made and continue to make for our country. And that’s not even including the sacrifices required of their families. So I was intrigued by the wording in the King James Bible describing a prayer coming up to God as a “memorial”, especially since God never forgets. I discovered that in Greek the word “memorial” means “memorandum”. Memorandum is derived from a Latin word which means, “a thing to be remembered”. Thus, the angel says to Cornelius, “Your prayers…have come up as a ‘thing to be remembered’ before God”.

Picture your prayers as little “Post It” notes all around Heaven. However, do not for one minute think that your many prayers are reminding God in case He forgets. No! No! A thousand times No! I believe these many prayers are a declaration to God and the angels in Heaven who run His errands that though we’ve been praying for many, many years, WE STILL BELIEVE!

I encourage you to use part of your holiday weekend to take some of your old, forgotten prayers and dust them off! Then, remind both Heaven and Hell that you still believe. (Luke 18:1-8)