Remembering Jesus

Yesterday my six-year-old son said to me out of the blue in an apologetic tone, "Dad, sometimes I forget Jesus."  I responded by telling him that we just need to do our best to remember Him and the conversation didn't go much past that.  Later in the day we were getting ready to go take a walk outside as a family.  I watched as my son went over to the shoe rack and took off his shoes.  I reminded him that we were taking a walk and needed his shoes on, and he said, "Oh, I forgot!...  But I remember Jesus!"  It was a great reminder to me that I need to remember the Savior more as I covenant to do when I partaking of the Sacrament each week.  The Savior emphasized this fact when He gave the Nephites the Sacrament: "And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you. And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you" (3 Nephi 18:7).  He then said almost the same thing about the wine: "Ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood, which I have shed for you, that ye may witness unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you" (3 Nephi 18:11).  Three times in both of these verses we are told to remember Him.  The Sacrament prayers we similarly eat and drink "in remembrance" of the Savior and covenant to "always remember Him" (D&C 20:77, 79).  We often focus on the need to keep the commandments, which is also a a part of what we promise with the Sacrament, but remembering Him is just as crucial to our discipleship.  In fact, the Sacrament prayer on the water reiterates remembering Him but does not repeat the injunction to keep the commandments, perhaps highlighting the fact that if we do truly remember Him we will of course keep His commandments.  

               Other scriptures similarly encourage us to remember the Savior.  Abinadi questioned Noah and his priests, "And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins, and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved?" (Mosiah 16:13)  Alma, whose father was one of those priests, told how this remembrance saved him, "And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world" (Alma 36:17).  Perhaps the most famous scripture on remembering the Savior comes from Helaman's counsel to his two sons: "O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world....  Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation" (Helaman 5:9, 12).  

            So how do we in practice "always remember" the Savior when life is so busy and filled with activities unrelated to thinking of Him?  I think that this counsel from King Benjamin at least gives us some guidance: "I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily" (Mosiah 4:11).  A persistent humility within ourselves that recognizes the Savior's greatness as compared to our own sins and weaknesses is surely an important component to remembering Him.  If we can approach all of our activities and interactions with others with an underlying meekness that recognizes our dependence on Him, even if we can't consciously be thinking on spiritual matters all the time, surely that is a part of remembering Him always.  And we will have an indication if we are succeeding because we will have the promised blessing of His Spirit with us.  Which will, in turn, continue to remind us that no matter what else we forget, we should remember Jesus.