Are you the same person you were a year ago? Five years ago? Ten years ago? Think back and remember where you have come from. Even if you aren’t as far along as you’d like to be, I will bet that you have made progress. Think about where you have come from! Isn’t that a reason to be grateful?

One of the traps people have always fallen into is forgetting where they have come from. Read the Old Testament and you'll see it over and over again.  God's people forgot that they were slaves and God sent Moses to deliver them. They forgot that while they were wandering in the wilderness because of their unbelief, God provided for them. They forgot how He split the Red Sea, or opened a path through the Jordan River, or sent food they didn't have to grow or hunt for in manna and quail. It goes on and on.

The Scriptures bear witness that God's people continually, even habitually, forget what God has done for them in the past, complain about their present, and don't expect God to fulfill His promise for the future. As much as we hate to admit it, you and I are just as prone to such forgetting. It's not pretty. And, although we hate to admit it about ourselves, we most certainly will recognize it in our spouse or the person who sits on the other side of the church. But if you and I will take a hard look at ourselves then we can allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of own pattern of repeated history forgetfulness. Once you've admitted it, you are in a perfect place to truly cultivate grateful. Remembering where we came from and what God has done in our lives will always spark thanks. Without exception. The trick is to take the time to remember.

The psalmists understood this need to remember. That's why a good number of the psalms are testimony psalms. So many of the psalms look at current distress through the lens of past deliverance. The writer builds future faith through remembering God's past faithfulness. There are even psalms designed to remind God's people as a group of what He has done for them, how He led them out of slavery and through the Red Sea, defeating Pharoah through plagues and a miraculous opening and closing of water. The psalmists understood their own tendency to forget as they observed the forgetfulness of all their ancestors.

God isn't put off by our tendency to forget Him.That's why He has built into our experience the ordinances of water baptism and the celebration of communion, or the Eucharist, which by the way, comes from a Greek word that means "thanksgiving." The whole purpose of communion is to remind us of what Christ did on the cross so that we will be inspired to give thanks. The purpose of communion is to cultivate grateful. When we witness a new believer making their public profession of faith through water baptism we can’t help but remember our own experience. It renews our faith as it reminds us of what we used to be.

Thanksgiving time, whether the holiday we celebrate or the celebration of the Eucharist or water baptism, is a good time to look back and remember your own story. What is your story? What has God done for you? How are you different today than you were? As you take the time to remember, you will see that you have been transformed. That will inspire a thankfulness which will transform you even more.

What's my story? God rescued me from myself, from feeling like I had to be good, even perfect, in order to be acceptable and loved, not just by God, but by anyone. When I surrendered my life to Christ I began to discover satisfaction and fulfillment beyond all that I could imagine. It's been a continuing journey of leaving behind comfort and control to embrace an expanding experience of joy and strength through stretching my boundaries. Every YES along the way has been a doorway to a new understanding of God and a deeper knowledge of my true self, the me God designed me to be. Even as I write this I am overwhelmed with thanks. He has brought me so far and I know there is still farther to go.

Perhaps that's the greatest benefit of remembering your story. When you realize just how far God has brought you, it encourages you to keep saying YES and to continue the adventure of being thankfully transformed. 

What's your story? Let remembering your past inspire you to reach toward God's future for you because your story is far from over.

Key thought: Remembering my past inspires my future.

A Scripture to consider: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A YES challenge: Take some time to reflect on your story. Give thanks to God for how far He has brought you and commit to giving Him Your YES going forward.

Prayer: Father, as I look back on all You have done for me I can't help but overflow with thanks. I see how far You have brought me. I am not the same person I was and I know it wasn't through my own efforts.  It's a work of Your ever-present grace in my life. I choose today to put my trust in Your future for me because I remember how faithful You have been in my past. I give you my YES again because I know You will continue to do wonderful things in my life. Amen.