You are lounging, as only a lion can, in the Serengeti. You have your own pride of cubs and lionesses, which means you are a successful lion.

You’ve also had some experience with humans. You know they are weak and made mostly out of meat.

As you are lounging, you hear voices. Human voices. This will require investigation.

You lope down the side of the hill and see two humans.

They are just standing there. They are not even in a protective shell!

You rush towards them.

You leap.

You stretch out your paws.

You …

Nuzzle their faces.

Such is the story of Christian the Lion. He was raised from a cub by two Englishmen. When he got too big, they released him into the wilds of Africa.

After a few years, they were curious if he had survived, and if so, how he was doing. They were warned that, if they did find him, his instincts would have taken over; he would have forgotten them, and it would be dangerous to approach him.

But Christian did remember. He remembered these men had been good to him, and he showed great appreciation for them.

Are we as good at remembering as Christian the Lion?

As humans, we forget. It seems natural that we don’t always remember everything, but God commands us to remember. It is one of the primary aspects of a true Christian (get it?)!

The Israelites were enslaved for over 200 years to the Egyptians. Entire generations were born, lived and died in horrible conditions. They were worked to death, beaten, and even had their babies taken from them and killed. For 200 years!

They turned to God and begged Him to save them. God performed astonishing miracles to have Pharaoh release the Israelites. Then, when they were released, God blew a hole in the Red Sea as a way of escape.

Pretty memorable.

But the Israelites forgot almost immediately and were soon complaining. Some even tried to return to Egypt. Some complained about the manna that fell from heaven. So the second time they miraculously crossed a body of water, the Jordan River, God wanted to make sure they remembered this miracle for a long time.

He had the priests stand in the middle of the river while the waters piled up to the north. As the Israelites filed by, the priests held up the ark of the covenant to remind them Who was responsible for this miracle.

God didn’t stop there. He had them pick up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan and stack them on the bank of the Promised Land. Gerald Flurry drew an important lesson from this strange command. He writes in The Former Prophets, “While the river was dry, the Israelites, according to God’s command, took 12 stones from the center of the Jordan and brought them over to the other side. With these stones, they made a memorial of this spectacular event (Joshua 4:1-8). God wants His people to remember the miracles He performs for us!”

This was to remind them that they had crossed the river via miracle. If they were ever by the Jordan to travel or gather water, they could see this memorial. God wanted to make sure they didn’t forget so quickly this time. You can read the whole account in Joshua 4.

Do you have a monument of 12 stones in your life? Do you have one miracle, one answered prayer that you can pull out of your memory? If you don’t, make one.

God hates forgetfulness. Here are the things God says will happen to those that forget Him: They will be forsaken, perish, be torn to pieces, cast out of His presence, buried, shamed, and on and on.

Really? For forgetting? Isn’t that something we do by accident?

Mr. Flurry wrote in Malachi’s Message: ”’Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name’ (Malachi 3:16). Why a book of remembrance? … These are the Philadelphians who remembered. We are warned to remember what we were taught (Malachi 4:4-6). … It is a book of remembrance because they remembered what they were taught! … The Laodiceans fail to escape because they forget—and turn to a lukewarm message. God remembers the Philadelphian group because they remembered Him.”

How guilty are we of forgetting what God has done for us? How many miracles do we reason around and downplay? God has healed us all multiple times. He feeds us every day. We are walking miracles. But how many times have we asked for something and then forgotten?

In Psalm 103:2 David writes, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” The New Living Bible translation says, “Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.”

Deuteronomy 8:11-14 warns us explicitly not to forget God’s miracles. Remember when you were in bondage and you cried to me? God said to the Israelites. Do you remember that I heard? Do you remember that I caused hailstones the size of basketballs to fall only on your enemies? Do you remember that an ever-burning fireball protected you while I sliced open the depths of the Red Sea so you could walk across it?

There are two proofs of God’s existence that can help see us through. One is fulfilled prophecy. The other is answered prayer.

In the 1981 June-July Good News, Herbert W. Armstrong wrote, “[T]he Bible commands, ‘prove all things.’ That includes the existence of God! In the Bible, God says, “Prove me now, herewith.” The Bible says the scoffers “are without excuse,” because the proof of God’s reality is clearly seen, even in nature. God Himself, in the Bible, offers the proof of fulfilled prophecies. He offers, though few experience this proof, the proof of answered prayer.”

Answered prayer will see you through the hard times, and more importantly, the good times. That’s where Israel failed. They cried out to God for deliverance, and when He answered, they forgot within hours! Their memories were worse than Christian’s, and he was not even human.

How do we avoid that Israelite/Laodicean condition? How do we build our own monuments of 12 stones?

There is one practical step. If you remember nothing else, remember this: Ask God to show you the answers to your prayers.

Too often we reason around miracles. We do not see things as God does. Remember when you really wanted a puppy when you were 8 and asked God for one? And by the time you were 10 and actually got one, you didn’t think twice about it being an answered prayer?

Not only is it proof of God, but it is proof of His direct involvement in your life. It will be hard not to live differently when you have that anchor in your life. You know God hears you.

Think of one prayer you have had answered, something personal, something you can’t explain other than God really caring about you. Maybe you can’t think of it now, but if you ask God to show you, He will.

When you see a miracle in your life, write it in your prayer notebook or journal, or make a stack of 12 actual stones on your dresser. Remember this specific instance that God worked a miracle for you. It will help anchor you.

Sometimes the Christian life can be a struggle. God is not promising ease. Deuteronomy 7:17 says, “If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?”

We all have trials that are too big for us. We can fall into discouragement or temptation. But what does God say to do in these cases?

Verse 18 continues: “Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt. The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought the out: so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.”

We are so much more than Christian the Lion. Don’t forget the God who cares for you. He wants to be involved. Ask Him to show you His miracles in your life. Build your personal monument of 12 stones—and remember.