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A Good Word
Confessions of an Overachiever
Corn on the
Cob
Don't Drink the Water
Dust Bunnies
First Hezekiah and Second Babylonians
It's Not Who You Are But Who You Know
Lest We
Forget
What Are You Afraid Of |
Lest We Forget
Psalms
103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Psalms
119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
As I
(inevitably, this side of Glory) grow older, I find myself forgetting things
more and more, with alarming ease. It is not at all unusual for me to walk down
the hall to get something or do something, and promptly forget what I was after
by the time I reach my destination. They (in their proverbial wisdom) say that
one characteristic of old age is that we remember events in our youth with
greater clarity than what we did yesterday. Either I haven’t reached that point
or I’ve passed it; I have difficulty remembering both.
The Bible says
God forgets our sins once they’re forgiven (Hebrews 8:12); we don’t have that
blessed luxury, and often carry the memory of our past sins around with us like
a ball and chain. By the same token, even after we’ve forgiven others, and
especially if we don’t, we carry around the memories of hurts we’ve received at
their hands. These are kinds of things we should forget; there are others we
should never let slip from our memory.
We should
never forget we have been purchased at a heavy price, the lifeblood of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Nothing we’ve ever done, and nothing we can ever do, can earn us
the prize of eternal life. It is God’s gift, but it is only free to us; it cost
Jesus everything. Not only does this mean that we can take no pride in anything
we do, it also means we don’t have to sweat and toil in an effort to please God
and earn his favor. Even the faith we exercise to believe in Christ is not
something we supply; it comes from God as well.
We should
never forget that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians
6:19). When we abuse our bodies, we are abusing God’s temple. When we do things
that bring us shame and reproach, we also bring shame and reproach to the Spirit
who lives within. The Holy Sprit is with us in times of terror and triumph, in
victory and defeat, from the point we are saved. We don’t need more of the
Spirit; He needs and wants more of us.
We should
never forget the Great Commission (Matthew 8:19-20). Christ made no exceptions
in his command that we go into all the world and teach the Gospel. That doesn’t
mean we should all be preachers or missionaries, but we should all be
evangelists and witnesses wherever we are, and with whomever we meet. We defeat
Satan, the Bible says, by the word of our testimony and by the blood of the Lamb
(Revelation 12:11). Every time a soul is brought to Christ, Satan is defeated.
We should
never forget to feed on the Word, pray, and share in the fellowship of
believers. Without nourishment, our spirits grow weak, and our witness is
tarnished. We all need the strength that comes from Bible study, meditation, and
prayer, and the church needs all of us. Whatever spiritual gift God has given
us, and all of us have at least one, the work of Christ suffers when it isn’t
used.
Let us
remember, then, whose we are, and whose we will always be. We must turn loose of
the past, insofar as God gives us grace, but not of our heritage as brethren of
Christ, as children of the same Father, and joined by the same Spirit. If we
forget just why we went to the bathroom, we can all live with that. I know I
can.
Grace and
peace in Jesus Christ. our Lord.
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