We forget all kinds of things. The other day, I forgot that I was sauteing some spinach on top of the stove and the burning smell from the spinach brought it back to my remembrance. While driving, we may forget to use our turn signal before we change lanes. We may forge how long the chicken has been in the oven, because we forgot to set the timer. Some people have forgotten how to say, “Please” and “Thank you”. They just don’t say it to anyone and they don’t say it to God. They don’t respect God for His many blessings.
Now I can understand if you have a medical condition, perhaps a stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, concussion or old-age, for your forgetfulness, but these would be the only legitimate and acceptable reasons to be forgetful about the blessings of God.
There appear to be a universal forgetfulness that is much more premeditated or randomly and systematically, or maybe formally and informally, but how can you forget the goodness of God and about God.
God delivered the Israelites from Egypt. Before they were delivered, they personally saw the power of God through Moses. Moses confronted the most powerful man on earth saying, “Let my people go.” Ten plagues later, Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt with the Egyptian army in hot pursuit. Miraculously, the red sea opens, the Israelites crossed over, and Pharaoh’s army is drowned.
Again and again God worked miracles for His people and again and again, and they forgot about God. It almost as though they developed amnesia.
Forgetfulness brings disaster. When people forget God’s “many acts of kindness," they will drift away. How easy it is for people to forget God. They turned quickly to the idols around them, money success, the pleasures of the world. We must be very careful not to follow the examples of the Israelites. “They forgot God, their Savior, who had done such great things in Egypt. Such wonderful things in that land, such deeds at the red sea” Psalm 106:21-22.
Forgetfulness is deadly. That is why God’s Word gives so much emphasis to calling us to remember. Moses’ message to the Israelites in Deuteronomy is warning them not to forget the Lord. This same message is throughout the Bible. Peter tells us to “add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. Then he says, “He who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins” (2 Peter 1:5-9).
We have been rescued from the wrath of God and granted eternal salvation, so how could we ever forget the One who bought us at such a great price. Yet sadly, some people do forget.
Some forgetfulness is not bad. There are somethings that we should forget. Like sins that have been confessed and forgiven. Some past failures that we just keep holding onto. Some mistakes that have been learning experiences. Some bad jokes that don’t need to be told anymore.
How can we forget what it cost our Savior to redeem us? How can we forget the greatness of His worth? How can we forget that God in Christ has forgiven us? How can we forget that Jesus has risen from the dead and has conquered every one of our enemies and has given us a sure future in heaven?
Let’s not develop a mindset of “Forgetfulness”, when it comes to our Lord and Savior, Jesus.
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