Leave The Memories Alone

"The seed dies into new life and so does man." George MacDonald

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Did you ever hear about some seeds that are dormant for thousands of years and then they grow and come alive when exposed to water?

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Every so often I'm in a quandary about resolving a perceived contradiction of faith. At first I'm afraid to discuss this with others, for fear of discouraging them and turning them away from God. Especially if they're a new believer or not the type to question anything. Will I come off as insecure in my faith or just be a real party pooper?

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I'm now convinced that running to someone else for answers, is not always the best thing for me. Without fail, if I simply sit still, pray, read the Word and patiently wait for the answer, the Lord's helper guides me and brings the peace that surpasses all understanding. For a natural skeptic like me, a simple answer from someone else doesn't always sit as well with me as the serene response from the Holy Spirit that resides within.

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The latest enigma had to do with memory loss. If one could lose their memory then memory must be something physical. If it's physical, that must mean when we die, we won't remember anything of this life. How good could Heaven be if I couldn't enjoy seeing those I knew and loved on earth? Then again, maybe that would be the best alternative if someone I loved didn't make it to Heaven.

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"That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. "Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?"

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Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead but of the living."

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The other day my answer came from an unexpected direction, when I was studying the phenomenon of a dormant seed. It dawned on me that we are all like the seed in that we never really die. Yes we'll eventually lose this physical body and memory, but God has given us a glimpse of our future in eternity through the seed and the living water of Christ.

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Our resurrected body and soul will be like a seed in suspended animation that is watered and blooms into a new body. We'll be cognizant of our former memories but we'll look at things from a new perspective on the other side.

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"But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body." 1 Corinthians 15:35-38

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"O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water." Jeremiah 17:13

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I smile when I think how God must get a kick out of me when I think I'm protecting him from others that may fall away when I think of a doubt that God won't be able to answer this time.