Forgetful - Martin Wiles

Never forget this! Deuteronomy 25:19 NLT

Many things I wish would hang around…don’t.

The process began around the age of forty. Things began escaping me. Names came first. People I’d known for years now had names that appeared as strangers. I recognized the faces, but couldn’t recall the names.

Almost twenty years later, things have gotten worse. Sometimes I can’t even recall the names of students who I presently teach. They come to my desk asking for a pass to the library, and I pause before writing their name. Because I can’t remember it. Most of the time, it eventually comes to me, but not without using some brainpower.

I wish I could remember the names of all the students I’ve taught down over the years.

I would love to remember all the stories my maternal grandfather told. Just children’s stories, but with a Southern accent I wish I could still hear. I’ve forgotten it.

I wish I could remember all the stories my paternal grandfather told me about his life growing up. Many of them I do remember and have written down, but many more are lost. And all my grandparents are gone, so I can’t ask them.

I wish I could continuously remember the death dates of my relatives who have died. Sure, I can look the dates up, but that takes time, and even if I did I’d probably forget them again.

Rehearsing is a good way to remember. It’s how I remember special Bible verses I don’t want to forget. If I go too long without rehearsing them, I’ll have to start over again.

While we don’t truly forget—unless we have brain damage or a brain disease—many things are beyond our ability to pull into our present memory. God gave His Old Testament people some things He didn’t want them to forget. Some of the things their enemies had done to them were among the list, but more importantly were to love others, to show kindness, to remember the poor, and to remember that they were once slaves.

Remembering what God has done in our lives is always proper. He has delivered us from sin’s penalty, placed abundant life in us presently, and promised us eternal life in a wonderful place called heaven.

Remembering these things causes us to remember other important things: helping the suffering, giving to the needy, associating with the lonely, helping the orphans, lending to the widows. Things that Jesus says serve Him and demonstrate our identity in Him.

What can you do to make sure you don’t forget the most essential things in life?

Prayer: Father, help us never to forget Your love for us and our responsibilities to others.

Tweetable: Do you struggle with forgetting? 

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