I think, when it comes to information, I do a better of job of storing it than retrieving it. I’m pretty sure that I have far more packed into in my brain than I seem to be able to access. I might know that I know something . . . but just can’t seem to recall what that something was. And, it’s not getting any better! The recesses of my mind seem to be getting more inaccessible with time. Maybe that’s why the repetition of a simple three word phrased jumped off the page at me this morning . . . or, maybe it was something, or Someone, else . . .

And He told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” . . . Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking about the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.   (John 2:16-17, 19-22 ESV)

There, repeated twice, is the phrase “His disciples remembered.” As I read it the first time, the thought flashed through my head, how could these unlearned men have recalled an obscure verse from an ancient song of David (Ps. 69:9) and applied it to the Master they had only recently started to follow? . . . is this the Spirit? And then I read on a few more verses and encounter the phrase again . . . and I think to myself, Self, this is the work of the Spirit! And then I think about my thinking and, I think, that it too is a realtime Spirit dynamic at work.

It’s what He does. The Holy Spirit takes the word of God and brings it to mind in the child of God. His delight is it take that which is written concerning the Son and illuminate it for those whose desire is to seek the Son. He takes the Bible readings read . . . the Sunday School stories heard . . . the memory verses memorized . . . the sermon notes written . . . all the Bible knowledge stored . . . and He retrieves it . . . bringing it to mind. And not in some divine “Trivial Pursuit” sense . . . but rather, along with the Word retrieved, He sheds light as to how it speaks of the Savior and of His great salvation. He gives understanding that we might be, more and more, children of the truth . . .

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you . . . when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about He . . . When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth . . . He will glorify me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.    (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:13-14 ESV)

How often do I “rob” the Spirit when I think it’s my intellect, or my attention to detail, which is allowing me to observe such things as a repeated phrase . . . or, to recall and apply some Scripture in particular situation . . . when, in fact, it really is a God thing? How often do I miss recognizing encounters of the divine kind because I fail to acknowledge the Spirit of truth as the one enabling me to remember?

Praise God for Spirit powered remembrance.

I’m guessing that, naturally speaking, over time my “retrieval system” is going to get a little rustier. But my God never changes . . . Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever . . . and the blessed Holy Spirit’s work of enabling the “mind of Christ” will continue without fail.

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.   (1Corinthians 2:12 ESV)

Remembering . . . remember, it’s a God thing.