Remembering By Immersing

“Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.” (2Pe 1:15 AV)

“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:” (2Pe 3:1 AV)

If you are like me, it is hard to remember things.  The older one gets, the harder it is to remember.  In particular, when I read of truths that I have not mastered yet desperately want to, I cannot help but blame it on poor memory.  If I could only memorize and remember the entire book of Proverbs, then perhaps I might be much better at living it out.  Or, if I researched and wrote down all of God’s promises, the next time fear comes knocking, I could call to my mind a promise or two which would dispel my anxieties.  The question becomes, how do we overcome the natural infirmity of forgetfulness?  Peter desires that his people will not forget all that he has taught them once he retires to heaven.  But note here an interesting observation.  It is not those to whom he writes who must endeavor.  It is Peter who is doing all that he can do that they will not forget.  How?  The second verse tells us how.  Peter writes to them.  The more he writes and the more they read, the more they are apt to remember.

There is a debate on which of the five senses is more adept at recovering memory.  The five senses are touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing.  Some articles assert the first three are the strongest.  Smell, taste, and touch in that order.  Other articles assert the other two are more important.  Sight and hearing seem to be on the top of that list.  The key is the type of memory the subject is attempting to recall.  If one is trying to recall a memory tied to emotion, then the first three are the tops.  Smells will remind us of special events in our lives.  Taste might bring us back to a fond dinner or being sick.  But if one wishes to remember facts, then sight is number one.  What we see is more impactful than what we hear.  In fact, of all the five senses, hearing is the least reliable.  We know this to be true.  I have some experience with the visually impaired.  Their memories suffer greatly.  They have no visual reference.  They cannot remember what day it is, what time it is, or where they might be.  They cannot remember where things are located, where they last placed those items down, or what an item actually is or does.  They have to go by touch and sound.  This can be very frustrating.

Peter knows the key to remembering is more exposure to that which we are forgetting.  This means more reading and not less reading.  This means we should play an audio recording of the word of God as we travel or do housework.  We should surround ourselves with the word of God as much as possible.  This was Peter’s goal.  HE endeavored to write to his people as often as he could and leave with them inspired scripture.  His desire was their memories not slack concerning the truths God had for them.  This poor memory was overcome by the written word of God.  Both seeing and hearing it is absolutely necessary and must be the priority the older we get.  We don’t need less Bible.  We need more!