Commemorate

Are there places that remain very special for you long after you were first there? Do you have fond memories of what happened in that place? Is it a place you revisit from time-to-time? Did you put a memorial there to commemorate what happened?

We all have a place or two that are very special to us. That place may be where you and your spouse were engaged. It may be where you were when you first met your spouse. It may be where you were when your child had their first haircut, or made their first basket, or caught their first fish.

We can remember, even picture them in our mind’s eye, the exact spot where something special happened. We may remember the weather conditions of that moment. Those special memories never seem to leave us, even if we do not remember them every day.

Jacob did not want to forget his experience with God. He had laid down with his head on a rock and dreamt of a ladder with angels going up and down it. He heard a promise from God shortly after the dream. He took the rock he had lain his head on and placed it as a pillar to commemorate his encounter. He even renamed the place to Bethel, which means house of God.

We may not be able to rename places quite as easily as Jacob did, but we can remember those special places. One special time and place to remember is our baptism. Another is the baptism of our children. Perhaps another is a time and place we heard God speaking an important message to us. He still speaks to us. I have heard him myself. He just doesn’t speak to us in a booming voice like he did to Moses from the burning bush.

I pray we all remember those special places in which we encounter God. I pray we listen attentively for God to speak to us. I pray each one of us will commemorate special places. Listen for God to speak. Be always attentive. Commemorate those special encounters. Remember everything about them.

Genesis 28:18-19 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.