Forget Me Not

(This week I’ve included the original song “Water Into Wine” with this blog. Enjoy!)[audio mp3="http://chrisatkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Water-Into-Wine-1.mp3"][/audio]I’ve been watching as my wife sets up and tends her garden at our house. I’m not much of a gardener but often find myself peeking at the lemon tree, tomato plants, and flowers that she carefully maintains. I admire Terese for the work she puts into her gardening and look forward to enjoying the beauty and fruits of her labor.One flower I have always admired since I was a child is the “Forget-Me-Not,” a plant of medium blue flowers with a yellow star-like center. “Forget-Me-Nots” symbolize true love, and in Canada people used to wear this flower on July 1st to remember those who gave their lives during the First World War.A life of worship is a life characterized by the phrase “forget me not.”Here is how the Psalmist David put it”

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sinsand heals all your diseases,who redeems your life from the pitand crowns you with love and compassion,who satisfies your desires with good thingsso that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.Psalm 103:1-5

This is one of my all-time favorite Scripture passages that I have memorized and pray out loud when I go through good times as well as struggles, challenges, and times of sickness. I love this Psalm because David makes the personal decision to exalt His loving, Sovereign Lord in and through the ups and downs of life. He literally talks to his very being and reminds himself never to forget all the good things God has done and continues to do for him.It’s David’s own personal “Forget-me-not” statement. Like a flower on a lapel, it is a statement of His true love for God. David’s “Forget-Me-Not” Psalm is a good lesson for all Christ-followers: Whatever we go through in life, we have a Savior and God whose true love for us never wavers or fades, both in this life and throughout eternity. aMy worship experience now includes “Forget-me-not” times: thanks for all the good things God has done for me.He has:

• Forgiven all my sins—Every one has been put away as far away as the east is from the west!
• Healed my diseases—God can do far more than we could ever ask or imagine, including healing of spiritual, emotional, and physical issues. He is the Divine Physician who loves us and knows every cell of our being!
• Redeemed my life from the pit—God is available and powerful to lift us out of the depths we find ourselves in, regardless of how we got there.
• Crowned me with love and compassion—we are now seated with Christ in the heavenly realm as adopted, loved children of God
• Satisfied my desires with good things—God gives what He knows is best for His own, and has lavished us with His presence and provision.
• And renewed my youth like the eagles—God’s Holy Spirit renews our spirit in this life, and one day when we see Jesus face to face we will be given new, resurrected bodies like His.

In these “forget-me-not” moments I allow the Holy Spirit to bring to mind all the good He has done for me, and then reflect the love he has poured in my heart back to him with thanks and praise. When I do this, I am tending the spiritual garden of my heart and allowing God to grow beauty and fruit in my life.For Christ-followers, we also wear a spiritual “forget-me-not” on our lives: a living remembrance, proclamation, and celebration of Jesus Christ who gave His life for all of us and rose again, so we now enjoy perfect fellowship with God forever. Like the flower, the center of our being is the One whose birth was proclaimed by a star.God bless you.Chris Atkins