How Quickly We Forget

Some say that they remember everything.  I say, I can't remember anything.   Don't you find it interesting that when talking with others about a certain event that it brings back memories that you have forgotten or not thought about in years. There is a reason that God tells us to make a memorial to remember events in our lives. We need something to trigger our memories to recall certain events in our lives.  

While reading this week in Matthew, I was struck with how quickly we forget and it happens to all of us no matter who we are.  John the Baptist, the man who baptized Jesus and "saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove", and heard the voice of God say, "You, Jesus are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy' in Mark 1:10-11, seems to have forgotten this momentous event. In Matthew 11 John the Baptist is sitting in prison with little hope of ever getting out.  It is while he broken and discouraged that he asks his followers to go to Jesus and ask him, "Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?" (verse 3). This makes me just stop and say, really?  I would hope that something this big--seeing the Holy Spirit and hearing God speak--would make me always remember.  But, in reality I forget just as easily.

Stories of God's chosen people forgetting the greatness and goodness of God are all over the bible from the complaining millions after the exodus from Egypt and the parting of the red sea (Exodus 12-17), the worshipers of the golden calf after they had seen the glory of God at the base of Mt. Moriah (Exodus 19, 32), and the disciples who did not know how to feed a large group of people after they fed them with a little boys lunch (Matthew 14:15-21, and Matthew 15:32-38). Even the biggest events in our lives are quickly forgotten if we do not have something to help us remember. 

The great thing about God is He knows us intimately.  He know what are weaknesses are. He knows we need things to help us remember.  Great men of the bible built altars and memorials to help them recall God's word and His promises to them.  Jesus himself, in the 22 chapter of Luke commanded the disciples to celebrate the Lord's supper as often as they met so that they would remember who he was and why he came to this earth. Jesus knew that without a recurring way to keep focus on why Jesus came we would forget His greatness, His goodness, and especially His love for us.

For me, I know that I have to write things down.  My blog is a memorial of things that God is teaching me. It is a struggle for me to take the time, but when I look back at the things that I have written I am impressed, not by my writing ability, but in what God has revealed to me.  I know that writing it down helps me to process the things that I am thinking and gives me greater wisdom and insight from God. Without the writing process I don't dig as deep into God's word or into my own thinking. When writing God gives me more scriptures and wisdom than I first thought of.