As I age, I’m increasingly prone to forgetfulness. At times I walk up the stairs only to realize at the top that I don’t know why I went up them! To overcome this, I often repeat what I am looking for over and over again to remind myself what I am doing.
Forgetfulness is one of the major problems for God’s people throughout the Bible. The book of Deuteronomy – given to God’s people just before they enter the Promised Land – repeatedly contains the phrase “do not forget.” Moses is pleading with God’s people not to forget the God who has rescued them from Egypt, provided this land for them, and had given them a purpose – to be a light to the nations.
Yet we know it isn’t long before they start forgetting, forgetting to rest, to worship, to trust God to lead them, and to teach their children about God. As a result, they get easily drawn into disobeying God’s law and even worshiping other gods. After many warnings, this leads ultimately to their exile as God seeks to draw His people back to Himself.
Forgetting what the Lord has done is not just an Old Testament trait. Unfortunately, we are prone to forgetfulness too. The second verse of the classic hymn ‘Tell Me the Old, Old Story’ says:
Tell me the story slowly,
That I may take in –
That wonderful redemption,
God’s remedy for sin.
Tell me the story often,
For I forget so soon;
The early dew of morning
Has passed away at noon.
(Author – Kate Hankey, 1866)
This hymn encourages us to remember and remind each other of God’s great redemption story. Just as I repeat what I need to get when I go up the stairs to keep it in my mind, so we need to be regularly reminded from God’s Word of who He is and of all He has done and promised.
Remember and Respond
Our homes are filled with mirrors. We look at them trying to determine if everything looks ok as we get ready. Imagine you are going to a wedding, and you’ve got a new outfit on. You are about to go out the door with your handbag and your comfy shoes in your hands for later. Then you smile in the mirror, and you see a bit of green veg stuck in your teeth from your lunch. It looks really bad. Do you act on what you see and remove the green from your teeth? Or, do you walk away and immediately forget about what you have seen and get on with your day? Of course we would act on what we have seen!
James says something similar about the Word of God. James wants us not just to listen to the Word of God but to act on what we hear. The Word of God is like a mirror. It shows us God, and it shows us ourselves – even the ugly sinful bits! That can be hard as we would all like to think we are wonderful and good. But as we get to know God better, we also get to know ourselves better.
Reading the Word of God and listening to it taught are good things, but we must do more than just listen to it. God’s Word should change us. It is like a mirror being held up to us, so we can see the things in our lives that aren’t as God intended. We can ask God to help us, for He is able to transform us. Thankfully God is merciful and doesn’t show us everything at once. Over time we are changed as more of the fruit of the Spirit is cultivated in our lives.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
James wants us to see that God’s Word is the perfect law of liberty. It brings freedom. Maybe you are thinking those are opposite ideas – law and freedom – but they aren’t.
Imagine if there were no rules about flying and everyone could fly wherever they wanted in the sky with no air traffic control limiting the freedom of planes! Freedom to get where you want to, when you want. Can you imagine the chaos of bigger and smaller planes flying all over the place, crashing into each other, trying to land and take off from the same runways? Would you want to get on a plane?
Remember His Faithfulness
Freedom is not a lack of law. True freedom comes when we live within the boundaries of God’s law. Airplanes are given boundaries of height and paths to fly within. There are mountains and other airplanes to be avoided. When everyone flies within the levels they are supposed to, everyone is kept safe.
We know God desires our good. We also know He created not only this world but us and everyone in it. God knows what is for our good. He has created the boundaries that are best for us to live within.
When we make mistakes, God’s Word reminds us to come to our loving Heavenly Father for forgiveness. But just as with our children, we hope they will learn from their mistakes. Even more so, our Heavenly Father desires for us to learn from our mistakes and to learn to trust His perfect ways.
How can we become wise and blessed by God? By fixing our attention on God’s Word as it fixes our attention on Christ Jesus, the One who saves us. It gives us confidence in Him.
So let’s be women who do not forget who God is or what He has done to save us and what He has saved us for. Let’s keep reminding ourselves over and over again. May we listen well and ask God to help us to change our sinful parts as we humbly welcome God to be at work in our lives and through our lives.
