Matthew 28:7,8 (NLT)

“ ‘…Remember what I have told you.’ The women ran quickly from the tomb…”

The saints of old had a discipline called the “discipline of recollection.” This discipline meant a time when the believer would shut down physical activities, and enter a place of quietness to “recollect” or remember the things that the Lord had spoken to him earlier. Our fathers in the pilgrim life knew that unless we stopped ever so frequently for this time of recollection, we would be prone to lose the treasures deposited in us by the Lord. When God wants to bless a life, He sends His words to such a person. When Satan wants to defraud someone, he keeps the man so busy that he cannot remember the words that God sent to him. The real fight of faith boils down to remembering and internalizing the words of God.

As the women dashed from the tomb, Jesus seemed to yell after them, “remember what I have told you.” Why did He say this? Because He knew that in their excitement and their rushing, they were prone to forget the specificities in the instruction. The primary reason why we must introduce and diligently practice the discipline of recollection is because our entire blessings and sustenance in the spiritual life are tied to remembering, processing and applying the specific instructions Jesus gives us. General commands do not lead to personal growth with God. To the man God loves, He sends him specific things for his life. These are the things we cannot afford to forget. Do you want to excel in your spiritual development? Then regularly enter into a time of personal recollection.

“Lord, I am so blessed by Your word to me today. I am hearing You calling me back into a lifestyle that I had left behind as the weight of responsibilities grew around me. But Lord, I recommit under Your grace today and by Your power, to return to the regular times of quietness, so that I may find the treasures You’d buried deep within me, through Your word. Thank You, Lord. Amen.”