I’ve got three questions for you: Who or what has left an unforgettable mark on your life? What does it mean to “forget Jerusalem”? Where do you find your highest joy?

Certain people and moments in life become unforgettable. Something about them makes you always want to remember. 

Maybe it’s a championship won, a true love discovered, a great gift given, one life-changing word spoken, one prayer offered, one long walk taken, a great gift or honor given, a signature move made, a personal goal accomplished, an emotional victory forged, an awful injury or devastating failure endured. 

Perhaps it’s a true teammate, a valued mentor, a forgiving friend. We all have unforgettable moments and people.

And we do all kinds of things to help us remember those defining moments and special people. We wear rings and necklaces, get tattoos, hang pictures, hold parties, hoist trophies, write journals, retell stories, make movies, plant gravestones, enshrine icons, hang plaques, line halls of fame. Anything to make the memory indelible.

We even make vows to help us remember. How ’bout this one? — “May my right hand forget its skill or tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember this!” That’s how God’s people spoke when it came to remembering Him in their daily lives. 

They considered going to Him as their “highest joy.” (That’s what “going to Jerusalem” meant.* Psalm 137:6) If they couldn’t remember Him faithfully, they wanted every other critical life skill they could perform forgotten until this go-to move was reestablished. 

No personal expense was to be spared when it came to remembering the LORD. They were desperate and determined to remember Him.

Reflect: How well are you remembering the LORD? Is He your go-to move and highest joy? 

Are you desperate enough for Him that you would vow Psalm 137:5-6, willing to lose even the coordination that makes you great or be rendered dumb/speechless until you give the Lord the worship He is due and make Him your highest joy?

A prayer to consider:  O LORD, don’t let me forget my “Jerusalem,” the seat of my best worship and highest joy. It’s You, Jesus. As someone so often on the move, help me make my faithful-best, go-to moves toward You. 

Break me, strip me down, if I can’t head in Your direction. Leave me benched, render me unskillful, unqualified if I don’t follow Your coaching leads. Help me downsize all the other moves I might make in life in favor of faithfully following You. 

Guide me by Your powerful Spirit living in me. Amen.

*P.S. For thousands of years the phrase “going to Jerusalem” has meant something way more than just going to the capital city of Israel. It’s really meant going to meet God … before you die, not just after. 

Folks knew that going anywhere else would only be littered with pain, frustration, futility, disappointment, hopelessness. Going to Jerusalem was their only reliable go-to move and highest hope and joy. Do you know God like this?