Our Notebook
THEIR UNFORGETTABLE LOVE STORY
In the movie The Notebook, an elderly man approaches an elderly women in a nursing home. When she sees him, she’s startled and does not want anything to do with this man. But that morning, he decides to sit next to her despite the rejection she throws at him. He then begins to read this story about a young Noah who falls in love with a rich, young Allie. It isn’t until the very end of the movie that we realize that the love story he shares with the elderly women is theirs. So, what happened? It is revealed to us that Allie has Alzheimer’s disease, in other words, loss of memory. In the beginning when Noah reads their story, Allie is reluctant to be near, nonetheless is listening as this strange man reads to her. However, throughout the day, as Noah persistently fights to share their love story, Allie slowly begins to listen and realize his identity. This is her first love. The one whom she has left. At the end of the day, the two dance hand in hand until she once again forgets him and their love for one another. Every day, Noah’s heart is broken as his loved one forgets him, but this doesn’t stop him from pursuing his lover over and over again.
So, you may be thinking: how on earth does this relate to us?
One evening when I was being dropped off at my house by a kind couple from my church, I began talking about The Notebook with them. Suddenly, this thought flashed in my mind, causing me to stop and ponder for a moment. I thought to myself, “we know someone whose love is as persistent as Noah’s love for Allie … even more so. The “Noah” in our life is The Lord, and we are very much like Allie, who suffers from memory loss.
JUST LIKE ALLIE, WE SUFFER MEMORY LOSS. IT IS SO SEVERE THAT IT AFFECTS ALL GENERATIONS OF HUMANKIND. NO ONE CAN ESCAPE THIS DISEASE.
Sin corrupts the harmony between God and us. There has been disruption between creation and Creator since the Fall, leaving us to consistently and continuously stray away from God in disobedience. We forget about The Lord so many times, as seen in the Old Testament into today. In the Book of Judges, the Nation of Israel would enter a cycle of sin and deliverance after settling in the Promised Land. The cycle consisted of sin followed by cries for help, and then deliverance. The main problem of this cycle was Israel’s continuous difficulty with faith in spite of everything God had done for them. They would turn away from the Lord and do what was evil in His eyes. The phrase that “the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord” is recorded at least seven times in the book of Judges. This repetition emphasizes how seriously lost the nation was, and also how easy it is to forgetGod. Eventually, following generations of Israelites completely forgot the Lord. Judges 2:10 says, “… And there arose another generation after them [Israelites] who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”
Even in today’s society, we are not exempt from this forgetfulness that has remained within generation to generation. I am not exempt from this disease. I think about the many days that I wake up and head straight for my phone and scroll through the endless feed on my Facebook or Instagram. Easily I forget about God as I am distracted. Or, I indulge in a Netflix drama binge for three days straight. The list goes on… Again, I forget about God as I am distracted. It’s not that these distractions happen once; they begin to form habits. There are so many things in life that constantly bring our attention away from the Lord. We lose sight of our greatest love story, and even our purpose. We begin to do things that are right in our eyes. But what do these things that we do look like in God’s eyes? What are some things that cause you to forget the Lord and what He has done?
THOUGH WE MAY SUFFER FROM SEVERE MEMORY LOSS, WE HAVE A GREAT LOVER, (EVEN BETTER THAN NOAH CALHOUN), WHO CONSISTENTLY PURSUES US.
I don’t know about you, but when I was watching The Notebook, I wanted a man just like Noah to fight for me even if I lost my memory…to find a man who would fight for me no matter what it takes to prove that he really does love me. Talk about a man who pursues! The truth is, we do have Someone who is pursuing us like crazy. We have Someone so much better than Noah Calhoun, and that is the Lord. From the beginning, till now and forever we will have the Lord who fights for us. The Fall of creation was not outside of His control. He knew what would happen and planned redemption for all of mankind through His son Jesus Christ even before we were born. His mercies are innumerable and new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). In the Book of Judges, God delivered His people from their wicked ways when they cried out to Him. For our God is a God who listens to our cries. He does not ignore us when we call out to Him. Psalm 34:17 says, “When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles,” and Psalm 34:6 says, “This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.” The Lord sent judges and prophets to remind the Israelites to return to Him because He is abounding in mercies, grace and forgiveness. In Deuteronomy 1:6-4:43, Moses gave a speech to the Israelites before he died. He reminded the Israelites of the Lord’s faithfulness by reviewing the history of the past. Moses also reminded them of God’s promises and blessings because He knew how easy it was to forget their covenant with God. So from the beginning, God pursued the Israelites, and He continues to pursue us today.
OUR UNFORGETTABLE LOVE STORY, OUR GREATEST REMINDER, AND OUR PROMISING CURE.
So then, where is our book that God reads to us each and every day to remind us who we belong too… And how does this grand love story begin?
God reads to us our love story through the proclamation of His inspired Word. He gave us His beautiful Word to constantly remind us of our roots. Of where this love story began, and how long it will continue (forever!). We begin to lose our memory when we aren’t reading the Bible because we lose focus of our greatest love and greatest lover. We are prone to fall and forget God when we don’t read Scripture. The Bible helps us regain our memory. Not only does the Lord help us remember Him, but He also provides us with the greatest cure for our sickness. His son Jesus Christ, the ultimate perfect sacrifice, died for our sins so that our relationship with our Heavenly Father may be restored. We know that we will be together with our greatest love one day because of the gift of His son, Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord.
In the beginning of our day, just like Noah, God seeks us first. We are absolutely terrified and reluctantly try to squirm from out of His reach. Many times when we read the Bible, it’s hard to keep reading and listening to what God has to say to us.
BUT AS WE LEARN TO LISTEN TO HIM AND READ THIS BEAUTIFUL LOVE STORY, WE FIND OURSELVES DANCING HAND IN HAND WITH HIM BECAUSE WE REMEMBER WHO WE ARE. WE REMEMBER WHO HE IS, AND WE REMEMBER THE LOVE STORY BETWEEN GOD AND US.
However, just like Allie, we lose our memory again. It’s a struggle and fight to read the Bible each and every day. Everything begins from the beginning, with no memory of our first love.
