April 22, 2016

Reminders of God’s Love

Exodus 12:14-16, 24-28

Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants.

—  Exodus 12:24

How good is your memory? I have a password storage pro­gram that stores all of my Internet passwords because I can’t remember them by myself. I’ll be in trouble if I forget the password to my password storage program!

In our text for today God gives Moses and the Israelites a tool to help them remember. It’s an annual festival, the Passover. God commands Israel to observe the Passover every year to help them remember their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and to note that he always keeps his promises. God wants Israel to remember!

Jesus wanted the same thing when he called his followers to baptize people and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is God’s reminder to us that he has brought us into his family through a washing, our cleansing from sin through Jesus’ death. As a colleague of mine often says, God put our sins on Jesus and punished Jesus in our place. We are clean! Jesus’ death is brought to mind also in celebrating the Lord’s Supper. The bread and cup symbolize Jesus’ crucified body and shed blood.

I am grateful that God faithfully reminds me how much he loves me. We are all forgetful, but God loves us enough to help us remember! The next time you witness a baptism or celebrate the Lord’s Supper, remember that God loves you.

For the memory-building tools we call baptism and the Lord’s Supper, we thank you, O God! Thank you for reminding us that you are our Deliverer and Savior. Amen.

About the author — David Den Haan

Pastor Dave Den Haan has served at Fairway Christian Reformed Church in Jenison, Michigan, since 1999. Previously he served a church in Minnesota. Dave and his wife, Connie, have three children.

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