15 May Remind – Remember – Do not Forget HIS MISSION
The word entertainment can be defined as “agreeable occupation for the mind”, “diversion” and “amusement.”
Nowadays Media is playing a key role in entertaining people through various Reality shows (Singing, Dance, Humour), Game Events (IPL, Pro Kabaddi, ISL) and even some of the debates in News Channels.
Though Hockey is our national sport, Cricket is the game which caught millions of Indians. The IPL is the most-watched Twenty 20 cricket league in the world and is also known for its commercial success. The Indian Premier League’s brand value was estimated to be around US$3.2 billion in 2014. But the same trends are reflecting in other games as well. It is very evident that in Pro Kabaddi league (professional kabaddi league in India) and Indian Super League (professional football league in India) are based on the format of the Indian Premier League (IPL). All these leagues are coming one after another and entertaining people for almost 2 months each.
These games are promoted by Ads, cine and sports stars well in advance. Whether you like football or cricket or kabaddi, everyone is forced to choose some team and stars and follow them.
The tremendous success of all these sports entertainment is based on the fact that people wanted to divert their mind from regular routine stuff. Be it Sports, Reality shows or Cinema make them feel that they are out of their regular stuffs, work pressure and forget those moments for at least some hours. Also it can be in other forms like chatting with friends , social networking like Facebook or whatsapp, dj party, pub etc. So the idea of entertainment for majority people is diverting or occupying the mind with something amusing or enjoyable.
So What Bible talks about diverting our mind? Or where should we draw the line? How our Christian approach should be?
Remind / Remember/Do not Forget
Humans always tend to forget the things very easily over the period of time and also sometime they wanted to forget the things wilfully for obvious reasons. Because all of them think that through entertainment they could forget about the issues they bothered and all the problem or stress will be resolved to some extent. Actually they are defining “Joy” as absence or forgetfulness of problems. But on the contrary, Joy is not the absence of problem but the presence of God amidst of all the tough situations.
Bible uses the three words,
“Remind / Remember/Do not Forget” these 3 words numerous time.
“This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips.” Ex 13:9
“. . . will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God.” 2 Tim. 1:6
“You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.” Num. 15:39.
“Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?” Mark 8:18.
“be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Deut. 6:12.
In Deuteronomy 16, God Himself asked Israelites to celebrate 3 festivals every year in accordance of remembering their past . Deut 16 :3 says “all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.” Verse 12 says “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt,”
Even our Lord Jesus says in Luke 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
So all these verses pointed out clearly that humans may forget the things easily and God always intended to remind the people about Himself through festivals or communion very often.
Firstly, we should not forget our God for any reason even at small moments of time and should be always reminded about Him. The reason God ordained Sabbath was to be at rest from the World (not from God anytime) but to be with God. For every Christian, being continual/constant communion is mandatory and it should never be replaced with anything for any moment of time. The moment if any of our activities makes us to forget God, it is a form of idolatry. C.S. Lewis says “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” –
Secondly, we should not forget God’s Word. The very reason God
gave His Words in written format is to remember His words. Ex 17:14 Says “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it.” “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”(Deut. 6:7-9).
In Matthew 22:29, Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God “. Is it possible to know the Power of God without knowing Scriptures?. What comments Jesus would give for us?.. John Wycliffe said, “To be ignorant of the Scripture is the same thing as to be ignorant of Christ.” Disciples’ hearts were burning when Jesus revealed the Scriptures in Emmaus. Does our heart burn when we listen the Scripture?. Are we taking Scriptures seriously into our lives?
Finally, we should not forget about God’s people and God’s mission. There are 6900 unreached groups in the world and 2000 unreached groups are in India. 425 out of 600 districts in India having less than 0.9% of Christians. God expects us to invest our time, money and talents into the eternal things which is nothing but Gospel. Paul has supplied his own needs and the need of his companions. UESI ministry begun with the Sacrificial giving of great man of God Prof. H. Enoch, who once told a staffworker P.T. Chandapilla, “As long as there is a morsel of food in my house, you shall not go hungry”. “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can”, this is the motto which John Wesley lived by. How you spend your money tells what’s really significant or important in your life. Its God’s expectation that we should be curious about knowing mission needs and supporting it.
It is every Christian’s response that he/she should constantly verify whether my entertaining activities make oneself forget God/His Word/His Mission? If so that is dangerous. If your entertaining activities are in such a way that constantly reminds you about God/His Word/His Mission and His faithfulness, then I tell you, you are 100% in right direction. Entertainment should not be there in our life at the cost of forgetting God, His Word, His people and His mission.
Danish
The author, a Software Engineer, was part of Madras ICEU as a student and now is actively involved as a graduate in Bangalore East.
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