_HOW NOT TO FORGET_
DEUTERONOMY xi. 18-25.
If we wish to retain "the word of the Lord" everything depends upon where
we keep it. If we just keep it in the mind, a leaky memory may waste the
treasure. A Chinese convert declared that he found the best way to
remember the word was to do it! The engraved word became character,
written upon the fleshy tables of the heart. He incarnated the word, and
it became a vital part of his own personality. He lived it and it lived in
him. The word became flesh. This is the only really vital "way of
remembrance," to convert the word into the primary stuff of the life.
There is a secondary way by which we may help our apprehension of God's
word. "Ye shall teach them." Our hold upon a truth is increased while we
impart it to others. The gospel becomes more vivid as we proclaim it to
our fellow-men. We see it while we explain it. It grips us the more firmly
as we use it to grip our children. This is a great law in life. In these
matters it is literally true that memory best retains what she gives away.
A truth that is never shared is never really possessed. The word that we
teach becomes rooted in our own mind.