When God Reminds

“Pick up your clothes… Wash your hands… Make your bed… Finish your food… Clean your room”. I am sure many of these soundall too familiar and brings back memories. We all grew up having our parents remind us of things on a daily basis. It never ended. Perhaps for some of us, it dragged on to our teenage years and maybe even adulthood!

There is a constant need for all of us to be reminded of things, because our human mind always has a tendency to forget. To remind is to cause someone to remember or take note of something, where there is strong possibility of forgetting. “Re” is a prefix which means to do again. We reload our phones, we replay a song, we refill our petrol, we rework an assignment. So to “remind” is to put back into our minds something that was once there.

Let’s look at the word from a Biblical perspective and have a clearer picture. The word “Remind” in the New Testament is taken from the Greek word “Hypomimnesko” which means to recollect or remember something as prompted by the Holy Spirit. So, in other words, when you are in the midst of doing something and suddenly you are reminded to do something like call someone or prayer for someone, it is not something to be brushed off but it is “Hypomimnesko”. You would have just been prompted by the Holy Spirit.

There are countless times in Scriptures where this word “remind” appears but I would just like to highlight a few to you in order for us to see, how many times in Scriptures, writers felt reminders were very important.

Peter used some rather convincing words in 2 Peter 1:12-13:

In fact, he repeats something similar again in 2 Peter 3:1, where he says, “This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder.”Peter was in fact reminding them about something they already knew. He even knew that this would be something he will continue to do as long as he lives.

Paul when addressing the Roman church also felt the need to remind them of certain things. He was talking to people who were full of goodness, knowledgeable and even competent, yet they still needed to be reminded. How much more us? Regardless of our educational background, experience or achievements in life, we all need to be reminded time and time again.

There are countless things that God reminds us to do as we search through Scriptures, but for today I would like to just focus on one and that is what Peter speaks about. The key word used here is “wholesome thinking”.

As we compare other versions and put it all together, we would be able to understand what wholesome thinking actually is. The English Standard Version says we are to have a “sincere mind”. Blue Letter Bible refers to it as a “pure mind” while the Amplified Bible says its an “untainted mind”. The Contemporary English Version makes it very clear by using the term “honest thinking”.

Now putting all of that together would mean that God is reminding us that in our daily lives, we need to check our thought pattern to make sure that our thoughts are sincere, pure, wholesome and most of all honest and not tainted by seeds of the evil one. Wholesome thinking is not positive thinking (that is what the world would tell you). It is accurate thinking in accordance to God’s Word. You have a positive thought that may not be accurate, according to God.

Again, to have a deeper understanding of this word is to always go to the root of the Word. It is so important in Bible study to have some basic knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. So when Paul said wholesome thinking to the people of Rome, what did he actually say?

Well, the Greek word here is “Eilikrine”. We must understand that the audience Paul was speaking to at that time were those involved in pottery, so he used such a word because it was something they could relate to. It was a common terminology to them at that time. You see, “Eilikrine” means to be found to be pure when examined under sunlight. The practice at that time was that many potters when making clay pots, would always find a way to cheat customers. In the process of a making a pot, if it were to crack, the potter would apply some wax on it to cover up that crack and still sell it at the original price. A regular customer would probably just buy it not knowing that it was damaged. However, a skilled person would hold up the pot against the sun, because if there was wax covering any cracks, it would be visible by the reflection of the sunlight.

Just as how a person holds up the pot to the sun to show what is hidden, we too in our lives need to take every thought and hold it up against the Word of God to see if it is honouring God or man. Do our thoughts match the Word of God? The first place the enemy will always attack is our mind. He knows that once he takes control of our thoughts, it will affect our emotions and our actions.

God is reminding us today to practice “Eilikrine”. Take every thought and see if it matches the Word of God. Is it in accordance to God’s principles or man’s? I leave you with these to ponder on as we work on “Eilikrine”.

Let our thought be renewed and transformed (Romans 12:2)

Let our minds be steadfast in Christ and we will have peace (Isa. 26:3)

Let every thought pattern be on things above (Col. 3:2)

Remember all we have heard in the Word and do not let your thoughts drift away (Heb. 2:1)