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Scripture for the day: Isaiah 51:12,13 "I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor?"
Thought for the day: I don't know about you but I tend to get a bit forgetful, particularly as age creeps up on me. I started to work through one of those memory courses a few years ago; you know the ones that advertise will improve your memory to some astounding degree in just a few short weeks. One day I put the book down and forgot where I left it. I need reminders every day of the things I have to get accomplished or I'll never get anything done that needs doing. I have a "to do" list on my desk at all times with a place to check off each item as it's completed. I also carry one of those handy pocket calendars and an electronic reminder that beeps whenever I have an appointment to remind me that if I leave right now, I'll only be a little bit late. In order to really keep me on track I also have a wife who seems to remember everything! Just between you and me I think she may be taking advantage of my ability to forget and is remembering things I never had on my agenda in the first place just to get me to do stuff for her. But that's o.k. because, if she'd mentioned them before I'd have agreed to do them and then would have had to be reminded anyway.
There are many things in our lives we tend to forget, being mere mortals. Some are only minor inconveniences; others are of great importance. For instance, we often forget people's names and faces. This can cause some embarrassment but isn't usually fatal. On the other hand, we too often forget our promises. We make pledges to one another and then get caught up in a hundred other things and forget all about our sacred pledge. Too often this happens in marriages today. We pledge before God Himself to honor, cherish, love and protect the mate He has given us and promptly forget that pledge when it interferes with what we've decided we want to do.
Or we forget the vows we've made to God. We promise to serve Him completely at an altar of prayer or when we're sick and need His help or when we join the local body of believers, and then allow the pressures of life to squeeze that memory out of our lives the minute things are going well again. We forget that the next breath we take is only by the sustaining grace of God. We forget the Christ of the manger and the Christ of the cross. But aren't you glad we're not the only ones who forget? Though it seems incredible to think about it, God also forgets.
Oh, He doesn't forget the really important things. He remembers His universe and takes care of every one of the millions of galaxies He's made. He remembers the lilies of the field and clothes every one with beauty beyond measure. He never forgets the smallest creature as it breathes its last breath on this earth and falls to the ground. And He never forgets any one of us. He's never too busy to help a poor human being who's fallen on his or her way to the kingdom. He's there to pick them up, dust them off and set their feet on the right pathway again. "A bruised reed He will not break." He remembered a thief one day when His own Son was dying on a cross and took him to Paradise with Him.
But He does forget the things that ought to be forgotten. "Their sins I will remember no more.” When we come to Him in repentance and ask, He not only forgives but forgets the sins we've committed. He doesn't ignore them as if they never happened; He forgives them and then discards them to be remembered no more. He does so as a conscious act of love for us.
Aren't you glad you're not the only one who forgets?
Now go take on your world. - Bill