Remember now your creator

September 2022

My dear youth:

The memory of the ancients was super privileged. Adam named all the animals; he knew everything about their customs. After sin, the mind remained wonderful and privileged. The antediluvians transmitted data, such as genealogy and names, from father to son and remembered everything without difficulty. Contrary to what many believe, the ancients far surpassed us when it came to their mental capacity.

For centuries and centuries this extraordinary memory capacity was seen, but little by little mankind lost faculties as consequence of sin. Today, it is known that the human mind has become lazy and depends on devices to remember things. But the saddest and most dramatic thing is that we have forgotten God and our origins.

Remember the Sabbath

That is why the term “remember” or “recall” appears in the Bible, it is like a call from God to the human being. When God urges the human being to “remember” He is asking to bring something to memory so that what is evoked can help us improve our character. Example: A father tells his son: “Remember that I am your father.” It is not that the son did not know, but that he has forgotten to give the father the honor and obedience that he deserves. Not honoring the father is “forgetting” the many benefits received from our progenitor.

In the book of Revelation Jesus tells the church at Ephesus: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent.” Revelation 2:5. The church had forgotten to serve God faithfully. What the Savior is asking is that each believer remember that at one time they were faithful and loved God sincerely and deeply, but over time their love, their relationship with the Lord, had cooled. The exercise of remembering was to refresh their spiritual memory and lead them to seek genuine repentance.

At the heart of the Law, which appears in the book of Exodus, the fourth commandment says: “Remember the Sabbath day.” Exodus 20:8. Due to mental and physical deterioration, over the centuries, the human being was going to forget his Creator and His sacred day. God knew that solemnity was going to be changed from Saturday to Sunday and that is why he placed prophecies that warned of such. In Daniel 7:25, it says that the “times and the Laws will be changed,” and in the fourth century a change took place. Constantine the Great made a decree on March 7, 321 A.D. to urge all Christianity in the Roman Empire to observe Sunday as the weekly day of rest, instead of Saturday, which had been observed until then. I share with you a fragment of that decree: “On the venerable day of the Sun that the magistrates and the people who reside in the cities rest, and that all the workshops close.” The Catholic Church accepted this change and made it its own. Today it is imposing it all over the world.

Saint Justinian also stated: “And we all meet on the day of the sun, first because on this day, which is the first of creation, when God began to work on darkness and matter; and also because it is the day that Jesus Christ, our Savior, rose from the dead.”

Observing the biblical Sabbath is a matter of life or death. In Revelation the three angel’s message appears and warns us from worshiping the beast and his image, and we all know that he is worshiped by observing Sunday. The result will be that all those who do so will receive the announced plagues and that they will fall at the end of probation. That is why He says, “remember” to keep holy, to observe, the Sabbath day.

Remember your Creator

To “remember” is not only to recognize that the Sabbath is from God but to obey it. Remember that God has created you, that God has redeemed you in Christ, that God is the Creator of the universe and earth and that you owe Him respect, love, and veneration.

Another important aspect of this spiritual memory exercise is found by referring to FAITH. God asks Israel to remember the one who brought them out of Egypt. “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand”. Deuteronomy 5:15. They had to keep this fact and all the miracles that God did for them in their memory, but they forgot and always complained. They were not thankful and suffered great loss.

There occurred an explosion on a yacht and the passengers and crew fell into the cold water. Someone from the coast watched and went swimming, bringing the castaways one by one until he saved them all. But the hero suffered from hypothermia and both legs were amputated. Years later he was asked if anyone thanked him, the answer was very sad: “never”. None of those survivors remembered that they were alive thanks to the sacrifice of that brave man. When someone benefits us, we must always remember it and thank them with our friendship, loyalty, appreciation, fidelity, companionship, trust. The opposite is being ungrateful.

Remember that you are married and that you made a covenant of love, remember that you are a leader of the church and that you promised God to serve and love Him always. Remember that you are a father or a mother and that you must take care of your children responsibly. Remember that you are a son and that you owe respect and love to your parents. Remember that you owe consideration to your pastors. Remember that you must be an example at work or wherever you are. Remember that you must be an exemplary citizen. Remember that the world must see Christ in you. Do not forget, remember your Creator.

God says to every young person: “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them.” Ecclesiastes 12:1. God also speaks to you, youth, and asks you to remember, not to forget, that He created you and gave you life, that He sustains and protects you, that He loves you and that He gave Jesus who died for you.

You live by God’s work in you. You breathe because God gives you oxygen and lungs. If He withdraws His hand you die. You sleep and wake up because God wants it. You could die in the night, or in the day, but God gives life. Remember, remember, don’t forget to bless God for everything He does for you every day. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” Psalm 103:2. Act accordingly. You will never be disappointed to give the Lord His rightful place in your life. Amen.

José Vicente Giner

Pastor and leader of the Youth Department
of the General Conference

For personal and group reflection:

1. What does it mean to “remember” in a spiritual sense?
2. Is it enough to remember how much Jesus loves us or do we have to do something else?
3. When we do not thank our neighbor or God for what they give us, what effects are produced in the human soul?
4. How do we show that we remember the blessings received?