I have a confession to make: I am a forgetful person. I have more single gloves than pairs. I forget birthdays, meetings, to-do list items, and earlier this year I spent a good couple of hours wrestling over whether our anniversary was on August 18, 19, 20, or 21;and we have it written on our mantle at home! (It’s August 20th, 2016 by the way, in case you’ve lost all faith in me.) I have even lost a winter coat because it must have warmed up by the time I left the building. I don’t know if I sustained a head injury at some point in my life, or whether TV really does rot your brain, but I forget things easily. The number one excuse I will give my wife when I drop the ball on something around the house is, “sorry, I forgot.” And all the men said, “Amen.”

Prone to Wander

This past Sunday, Dave made a great illustration of a math problem that I thought hit the nail right on the head, here is the clip:

What I think we all “forget”, (for lack of a better word) is that the statement, “I forgot”, is not just a mistake, the Bible calls it a sin. The book of Deuteronomy commands God’s people not to forget nine different times. For example Deuteronomy 4:9, 

"Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you."

Now, it may seem extreme to call forgetfulness a sin. Isn’t it just part of being human? Yes, and that is sort of the point. The Bible defines sin as falling short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). God is all powerful and all knowing, therefore, he cannot forget. So, when we forget we are falling short of God’s perfection, he is holy, we are not. It’s true that the consequences of forgetfulness vary, if I forget to put gel in my hair before leaving the house, my only consequence is fluffy hair; but all forms of forgetfulness fall short of God’s perfection and his command to us is to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).” 

Forgetting is not a consequence free act, it can be deadly. In the case above, a forgetful heart may find itself breaking a few of the 10 Commandments as a result of forgetfulness. The Bible is full of these commands:

Psalm 119:6 – I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

Proverbs 3:1 – My Son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments.

Isaiah 65:11-12 – But you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain… I will destine you to the sword…

The list goes on. It is no wonder then, that Jesus gives us the symbols of the bread and the wine at the last supper and says, “do this in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19).” We are prone to forget and we need to work at keeping God’s goodness and blessings in our lives before our faces so we can grow in our knowledge and understanding of the things of God.

Practice Make Perfect

As Dave alluded to, the opposite of forgetting is mastery. He has taught, tutored, and gone over that type of math problem so many times in his life it has become second nature. He could hardly help factoring that problem if he came across it in the world (which would be odd indeed). He has moved from a student to a master. And that is our goal in remembering God. Not to master him by any means, that is beyond us, but to become ever more mature and complex in our understanding and application of who God is, what he has done through Christ, and how that changes our lives.

A God Who Does Not Forget

I have had to work hard in my life to stop defaulting to forgetfulness. It’s not an excuse, it is a confession. To forget something I committed to remember is a double offence. Fortunately for me, and for all of us who know Christ, we have a Father in Heaven who will not forget us and promises to keep us in his heart and mind without fail:

Deuteronomy 4:31 – For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

Psalm 9:11-12 – Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds! For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

This doesn’t even include all the promises of God not to forsake and sustain his people. God’s faithfulness and perfect love never fails. Thank God that we have a Saviour who lived a perfect life, never forgetting anything on our behalf. Jesus never forgot his wallet, or how much God loved him and wanted what was best for him. Jesus fulfilled God’s holy command to “not forget” on our h=behalf so we can boldly come to God each day, begging to be reminded of how much we need him.

Lest We Forget

I hope I can handle the truths and glory of God with the same skill and confidence that Dave had with that math problem. The world needs people who truly and passionately know God. The world needs people who do not forget.