I have trouble remembering things that happened earlier in the year. Now before you quickly put this down to my age, which I guess it could be, I think there are other things at work. 

One reason could be that if every day is more or less the same and nothing happens, then it can be quite hard to separate one day from the other. Another reason could be the opposite. When so much information and activity takes place and life moves at a frankly hectic pace then again everything begins to look the same. Was it too little or too much life?

Yet there’s a third factor at work. We live in a relentlessly forward-thinking world. The videos on social media never stop playing, the to-do list & inbox never empties, there is always something new on Netflix and the goalposts are always moving. We can’t let the kids get bored, and it seems we can’t be bored either. The next thing is on us before the last thing has even finished.

In our home some of our most treasured possessions include the photo yearbooks that my wife Emma has made for our family. They tell the story of our family and they give us countless reasons, as we look at them, to give thanks. 

The act of remembrance is a powerful antidote in the constant onrush of ‘what’s next?’ We stop, we remember, we give thanks. King David sang “Remember the wondrous works that he has done…”

And in a nice twist, one of the things we remember is that there are things that God has chosen to forget: “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12).          

Whether 2025 has been a good year for you full of many joyous moments to remember or if it has been a difficult year marked by sorrow and struggle, God has not abandoned you nor has He forsaken you. In Christ you are deeply, deeply loved. Take a moment to remember that.