Making Memories
Numbers 15:38-39
“Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.”
Hasn’t it ever bothered you that the precious words and promises God has given us in our Bibles can so easily get exploited and merchandized for profit? How many times have you walked into a boutique downtown, or a Big Box retailer, and seen some cheap, bland, artless, black or white cardboard paper with the words of Jeremiah 29:11 or John 3:16 or Psalm 23:1 etched across the canvas? Was the retailer really trying to remind us of something or just sell us something? How many times have you seen an ad for a clothing line pop up on your computer screen, with a picture of a guy or girl wearing a run-of-the-mill, plain-colored, white cotton t-shirt with red letters slapped over the chest that read, “I am with you always,” or “Take heart, I have overcome the world!” or “Joy to the world, the Lord has come”? Maybe I’m being too cynical here, friend, but I have a real problem with the thought that even people who aren’t sold out to the Gospel of Christ themselves have no problem selling it to others. But then again, the Bible’s always been big business if nothing else.
That said, Numbers 15:38-39 reminds me that the life of faith is a productive life, meaning that we as believers should be inscribing God’s Word on every corner of our earthly existence. But instead of going out today and buying another run-of-the-mill t-shirt or another pre-packaged picture from a store, let’s take Numbers 15: 37-39 as a commission to thread our own. Personalize the precious Words of God through artful imitation, friend. What skill has God fostered in you over the years? Use it to make tassels unto the LORD! Sew them or carve them or paint them or inscribe them or sculpt them or scrapbook them with your own two hands so that you’ll better remember the truths when you need them most.