Barrel Furniture?

I love going to flea markets, or thrift shops, or garage sales, or antique shops, or any place I can search through items that others have discarded. There are a few shops nearby that are my favorites to venture through, and if I have a half hour to spare while I’m in town, I’ll swing into one of them and see what’s new.

(I wrote about worthless things just two days ago…now you know why I have so much worthlessness.)

There are certain items I just can’t seem to pass up. These items draw me to them. A pretty set of china. Old ladders. Items that would fit into my “farm house” style. What can I say, I’m a sucker.

On one of these meanderings, I turned a corner to find a table and chairs set made from barrels. The table top was round and sat on top of a barrel. Its chairs were cut from barrels and were covered with a patchwork of multicolored leather.

I was drawn to this furniture. Not because it was my style. Not because I had space anywhere in my house for it. Not even because I liked it.

I was drawn to it because my grandparents had a set exactly like it in their basement! I wondered if it could possibly be the exact set, because surely there couldn’t be more than one in this world.

Memories of my grandparents flooded my soul. Grandpa’s storytelling and Grandma’s cooking. Their laughter. Their mannerisms. Everything about them rushed into my mind at the sight of that furniture.

Isn’t it interesting how our minds work that way? We see something and we’re reminded of a place. We smell something and we’re reminded of a person. We hear something and we’re reminded of an object.

We make connections. We make associations.

And guess what? God created us that way. God wanted us to remember…remember Him. God puts people, places, and things in front of us daily so that we would be reminded of Him.

1 Chronicles 16:12 (NIV) tells us to “Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.” As we see His creation daily, we are to remember Him.

Psalm 63:6 (NIV) says, “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” When we hear the chime of a clock through the night, we are to think of God.

Isaiah 46:8 (NIV) says, “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels.” What are we to remember? That God is God. There is no other like Him. There are none like Him.

But the wonderful thing is that as God asks us to remember Him, He won’t remember our sins. Each time we sin, He isn’t reminded of our past sin.

Jeremiah 31:34 (NIV) says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” God wanted us to remember this one, so He repeated again in Hebrews 8:12.

2 Corinthians 5:19a (NIV) reminds us, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” God isn’t keeping tally. He isn’t keeping a book of records, because God loves us. Because God is love!

1 Corinthians 13:5b (NIV) repeats the idea. “[Love] keeps no record of wrongs.”

And if you still would like some proof of this concept, let’s look at Psalm 103:12 (NIV). “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” He will not be reminded of our past. He will not remember our sin.

I don’t know about you, but I thank God daily that my past is in the past. I thank God daily that my sins from today (after repentance) will not be remembered tomorrow.

I don’t know about you, but I think remembering God throughout my day is a good trade off. I’d gladly think of God than think of my past. I’d gladly think of God than think of a temptation in front of me. I’d gladly think of God just because.

What reminds you of God? How do you remember Him throughout your day? I pray that you are reminded of His grace, His peace, His love, His comfort, His joy today. Because I can guarantee, He is thinking of you!

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna