AUG. 19, 2013
The
Gift Of Remembering
Read: Genesis 40:1-14,23
Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph,
but forgot him. —Genesis 40:23
During
seminary, I worked in a nursing home. As I spent time talking to these
men and
women, at some point nearly every patient would describe the loneliness
of
their present lives and the realization that they were outliving their peers.
Most
wondered if anyone would remember them when they passed from this life.
It
isn’t just the elderly who can feel lonely and forgotten. In fact, many of us
feel
trapped and alone, set aside by circumstances fair and unfair. Sometimes
we even
experience what the Old Testament character Joseph did: people failing
to remember
us when there’s every reason they should.
Genesis
40 describes Joseph’s experiences as he’s trapped in prison. The cupbearer
had
been freed and returned to the king’s service, just as Joseph told him would
happen (vv.9-13). Joseph had asked to be mentioned to Pharaoh, but the
cupbearer
forgot him (vv.14,23).
We
may feel forgotten. Yet, like Joseph, we are not (42:9-13). Jesus sits at the
right
hand of God, and our prayers reach the throne of the King without fail
because our
Savior is our Mediator. When we feel alone, let’s remember to rest
in the confidence
of Jesus’ promise to be with us forever (Matt. 28:20).
Lord, let me be found serving others, as Joseph
did, in those hours when I feel most forgotten.
May I never be the “cupbearer” who fails to bring
the lonely and hurting to Your attention in prayer.
Jesus never abandons or forgets His own.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2013
