by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

I’ve probably told you what a terrible memory I have, right? Or did I forget?

The good news is that I did remember to buy the brain-boosting, memory-juicing supplements. Now if I can only remember to take them. Do people still tie a string around a finger to spark remembering? I think I might try that. If I remember.

My brain is such a fascinating, contradictory human-computer storage vessel. Names? I’m so sorry, but I forget them all. But faces? Oh faces. That’s something altogether different. Because…no wait, I also forget those.

In my defense (sort of), there is one thing I’ve never really forgotten: a meal. My mind might wander, and I might miss an appointment, yes. But let the clock inch toward the noon mark and I’m suddenly remembering. Those synapses are firing hard. I’m remembering deep. I’m remembering big. I’m remembering with feeling. I’m remembering with a sandwich. Also chips.

So here’s a personal note to my synapses: Guys. I’d be okay if you fired a little more regularly and a lot more consistently beyond that sandwich, thanks.

I hope these rascally synapses will continually grow in the getting-fired-up department when it comes to remembering the glorious things our great God has done. Deuteronomy 4:9 holds a wonderful reminder. “Only pay attention and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your grandchildren [impressing these things on their mind and penetrating their heart with these truths]” (AMP).

These instructions from Moses to the people are amazing reminders for us, too. Forgetting God was all too easy for them. Sadly, it’s also easy for us. We can easily get wrapped up in—and sidetracked by—all things earthly and temporary. And then sandwiched right in there, we can forget the glorious and the heavenly and the forever. The most important issues of life can “depart from our hearts” when we’re not careful. The Message expresses it this way: “Don’t let your heart wander off.”

Okay, synapses. Fire up right there for a minute, will you?

Because remembering to give glory to the God of all glory is gloriously important—way too important to forget. According to that verse in Deuteronomy, we need to “pay attention” and “watch ourselves diligently” so we don’t forget the great things God has done. Remembering has a purifying effect on our lives. And our children’s lives. And their children.

A few verses later, we’re reminded again to “take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you” (Deuteronomy 4:23 ESV). I want to live remembering—no wandering heart. I want the glorious works of God to be alive in the most synapsey parts of my thinking. I want to take care to impress these things on the minds of my family and all those I meet, impressing so that the truth beautifully penetrates hearts.

Honestly, it’s such a grand thought, I don’t think I’ll forget. Just in case, though, maybe I should tie a sandwich around my finger.

Rhonda Rhea is a humor columnist for lots of great magazines, including HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway and more. She is the author of 10 nonfiction books, including How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take to Change a Person? and coauthors fiction with her daughter, Kaley Faith Rhea. She and her daughters host the TV show, That’s My Mom, for Christian Television Network’s KNLJ. Rhonda enjoys traveling the country speaking at all kinds of conferences and events. She and her pastor/hubs have five grown children and live in the St. Louis area.