Isaiah 43:16, 18-19 Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

When I read that scripture this morning I was confused. It seems that I’m supposed to remember but not remember. I know that lessons are learned and I should remember those lessons. Many of those lessons come from the Old Testament. If I am to remember those lessons then what is it that I’m not supposed to remember?

I went back to the Hebrew meanings to find out what remember ye not the former things actually said. When I looked up the Hebrew words, not and neither were not part of the understanding. The Hebrew words when listed one by one as defined would be “remember ranking consider former things”. That didn’t make any sense to me. I’m not a Hebrew scholar, I do not know the exact Hebrew context. It would take many years for me to learn Hebrew to the point where I could translate it into English.

Then I remembered what Paul said about everything that he knew about what he was taught.

Philippians 3:8a Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:

The Hebrew word former things is translated as ranking in one use. Ranking is a way of placing importance on anything in experience or learning. Perhaps this is why the Lord spoke about what he had done for Israel. It was a way of putting into remembrance the things of the past and asking them to set them aside in value and to accept a new thing as more important.

This is exactly what we have to do when we become a new creation in Christ! We do not kill the old man, we just do not value what he did as important. The new creation is a new way of thinking and acting in accordance with who we are in Christ.

Ephesians 4:22-23 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Luke 10:42 There’s only one thing you need. Mary has made the right choice, and that one thing will not be taken away from her. (GW)

Recently our pastor clarified scriptures to the extent that it challenged common perceptions. He used the scriptures to dispel traditional views about the scriptures. It was not presented in a way that said “You are wrong.” It was stated so as to challenge our source of perception.

How do we feel about the bible? Feelings are not facts. Feelings do however influence how we interact with one another. In Luke 10 we see two sisters, Martha and Mary. Now you can take inference from the story and apply it to your life whether you take the role of Martha or Mary. But the Word only says what the Word says.

How are we to know with any certainty what any scripture means in context and in personal import? Well, I can only say what Jesus said here, “There’s only one thing you need.”

John 1:1a, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Sitting at His feet and hanging on every word is the only way to know for sure. He is the essential Word of God. Our perceptions are drawn from many different sources and some of those are nothing more than making the story memorable. Memorable isn’t necessarily truth, its emotional.

We should know the Word of God well enough to distinguish the difference between truth and memorable emotions. Sometimes we need to be challenged to question our sources of perceptions.