Begin with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.
One thing I have noticed recently about myself is how often I forget things. Anyone with me? I can blame it on getting older, but in reality, there is so much of my life I just do not remember. The more time passes the harder it is to recall things. Did you know we tend to forget 56% of the information we receive within 1 hour of hearing it, 66% within 1 day, and 75% within 6 days? A study done at Harvard University found that the information we forget doesn’t completely go away and can be reactivated easily with a little jump start. So, why does this matter? We can forget a lot of things and it may not ever have an impact on our lives in a detrimental way, but when we start forgetting who God is and all that He has done for us, our lives will drift to a place we never intended to go.
In Psalms 103, we are told to Praise the Lord with “all our inmost being” and to “forget not all his benefits.” These two things go hand in hand. I’m not convinced we can do one without the other. We can’t praise him as he deserves without remembering who He is and what He has done, and we can’t remember those things without it resulting in praise to Him that comes from our whole heart.
Knowing how easily and often we forget information can give us a glimpse into why our praise may at times seem insignificant, unnecessary, or even half-hearted. Psalms 103 gives us a perfect guide on how to remember what is most important if we are willing to spend the time it requires to do it. The way we live such hurried and distracted lives we can easily begin to forget all He has done out of a perfect love for us. Spend some time in this Psalm today focusing on how He has forgiven, healed, redeemed, loved, and satisfied you, and I promise if you do this, it will result in praise. He deserves this and so much more from us.
Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.
Reflection:
- Use Psalms 103 as a guide to journal today. The following prompts will help get you started, and I challenge you to spend time journaling through the rest of the Psalms. I believe if you spend time doing this, your heart will explode with praise for Him.
- What are some of the sins God has forgiven you of?
- What are the ways He has brought healing into your life?
- How has He redeemed your life from a pit?
- How has He crowned your life with compassion and love?
- Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for the gift of salvation and a relationship with You! Help me to remember just how special and important it is to spend intentional time with You. Jesus, may my heart never take for granted the price that You paid so I could know You! In Jesus' name, amen.