I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. (2 Pet. 3:2)
THE DAY BEFORE SHE LEFT FOR COLLEGE, my daughter went to see my mother, with whom she had been close since birth. Missy was moving more than two hundred miles away, and her life would take a different direction without her grandmother nearby to guide her. “Granny is giving me her parting wisdom,” she said with a smile as she left.
When Missy returned from the visit, however, she seemed melancholy.
“What did Granny say?” I asked.
“She told me to remember what she told me,” she said, with no further explanation.
Jesus spent many hours enjoying the company of those who followed Him. They had read the holy prophets’ words about Jesus coming in the flesh, and now they knew Him personally. They must have delighted in visits similar to Missy’s, laughing, weeping, and sharing stories about their lives that nobody ever recorded. Maybe He gave them advice too personal to write down, but the apostles remembered.
Peter admonished his followers to do the same—remember the stories, follow Christ’s advice, and share them with others to keep the memory of Him alive. For it is in the memory that loved ones continue to advise and comfort when time and distance separate or death takes them away. In the memory of what Jesus means to us, He lives.
Tell someone a story about your friendship with Jesus today.
Alice Stone Thomas is an adjunct professor of English. In addition to her three children and five grandchildren, she loves to read, write, and garden.
