He Still Remembers Me

When I was growing up, there was a show on NBC titled CHEERS. I wasn't allowed to watch it because the setting was a bar and the people there were partaking in things that Independent, Fundamental, Bible Believing, Hell, Fire and Damnation Baptist didn't do! I wasn't allowed to watch Three's Company either because it had a gay guy living with two girls but I'm not gonna waste your time or mine recalling the sheltered life I once lived. Since I didn't watch CHEERS, I am not sure how I caught on the little jingle song that they played at the beginning of the show. I do not know all of it but the main part of the song had these words..."You want to go where everybody knows your name".

When I moved back here to Tennessee after an almost 6 year hiatus, I found myself venturing into my old barber shop where I once went. When I walked in, I was immediately greeted by one of the men there who use to cut my hair. He said hey John, where have you been? It's been a long time. I immediately turned around to see who he was talking to and after looking back and seeing no one, I realized he was speaking to me! How could he remember? It had been almost 6 years! After sitting down for a trim, I found out that he not only remembered my name but also where I had lived and brought up conversations that we had had there in that little barber shop many years prior. What amazed me was how it made me feel that day. I felt welcomed. I felt at home. In spite of me moving away, when I came back, he remembered me and things about me.

God is like that too. Over the last number of months, I found myself getting farther and farther away from God. Oh, it wasn't a quick trip. It happened like it does so often to us all, slow and subtle. For the last few months, things have been rough for me and my family. I looked and tried to figure it out on my own. I tried to come up with my own conclusions on why I had lost my joy and then it hit me. I wasn't feeling like I was close to God because I wasn't. HE hadn't moved, I did! I wasn't loving God because I wasn't doing the things of God. I wasn't loving people like I should. I wasn't serving HIM like I should have been. I wasn't tithing. I wasn't spending time in prayer or in HIS word. I didn't trust HIM nor was I including HIM in my life. I wasn't leading my family as I should. Then things changed. After a long time, I finally decided to stop denying what I knew was wrong. I decided this past weekend to stroll back into HIS presence and just like the barber, when I entered in, HE called out to me by name. HE then dusted off HIS seat and welcomed me back into HIS presence. Conversation was sweet and it was just like old times. When that was done, my joy was restored.

I don't know where you are or where you have been. I don't know what circumstances you have or how far or close you are in your walk with HIM. What I do know is that it's not important to "go where everybody knows your name" but rather where HE knows you and your name, regardless of where you are or how long you have been gone!

See You At The River...John