If we are unfamiliar with mnemonics, it is a strange word, but the concept behind it can change our lives. Do we forget names but remember faces? Mnemonics is the answer. Are lost keys a daily problem for us? Try mnemonics. Our anniversary? Mnemonics, of course, will keep the date fresh in our minds.
It helps to understand what mnemonics is, and don’t worry, the concept is so simple that everyone can do it. The word comes from the Greek mnemonikós, which means anything to do with the mind. How do we use mnemonics? We come up with simple mental associations that help us remember larger pieces of information.
For example, we’ve all heard this: Thirty days hath September… That little chant helps us remember the number of days in each month. Or that little ditty, Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492…
To put it simply, we associate what we want to remember with something that is easy to remember. Our brains think in pictures, so associate Brenda Buck with an image of a pioneer riding a buckboard wagon. When we next see Brenda, we imagine a buckboard, and her name pops into our head.
It really works. In this next example, can we tell what we are describing here? My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. The order of the original nine planets, of course. (Scientists now tell us there are only eight, but that’s another article.)
Mnemonics applies to the Word of God, also. How many of us can quote John 3:16 without a moment’s hesitation? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
The words of the verse are triggered by seeing the scripture reference. We memorize the words, John 3:16, and the rest jumps into our minds.
God wants us to remember, however we do it. Ecclesiastes 12:1 tells us to “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’ ”
When we remember God, we remember why he is important to us, and it helps us to order our days according to his will. We see this brought out in Proverbs 3:6. “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
God wants to help us walk uprightly before him. He wants us to be successful in our pursuit of his truth.
Here are three examples of God’s encouragement to us to remember that he is our one and only God:
Example #1:
2 Timothy 2:15. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
Example #2:
1 Corinthians 6:19. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.”
Example #3:
Matthew 6:33. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
What God is really saying to us is that when we remember him, by whatever method we choose, we will have the mind of Christ, and we will walk his paths of truth unto the eternal salvation of the cross.
When we remember the cross, all that Jesus did for us will come flooding into our thoughts, reminding us of his supreme sacrifice on that long-ago tree.
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Originally Published 8-15-14 in Discipleship