Forgetting
It’s interesting how soon we can forget things. The older I get, the easier that becomes. But, as we wrote last week, there are things we must remember, for our soul’s well-being. It is also interesting, that I can remember things that happened many years ago, and what I ate the last meal, I really have to think hard to remember. WHY? Those events of the past were life events, a part of who I am, and the meal, insignificant really. Some things are just much more important to keep in mind. Those are the things that enter into my judgments and decisions I will make throughout my life. But isn’t it nice we can throw out the trash in our heads?
Some things we really want to forget. In fact, they can be buried up in our minds because they are painful. Sometimes these can haunt us because of worry. God gives us the ability to stop worrying about those things. Jeremiah 31:31-34 speaks of God’s desire to forget the iniquities of a man, and under the new law, there is forgiveness so they are forgotten. The passage last week Ecclesiastes 12:1, says to “Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth...”, but finishes the chapter telling us that we have to give an account of our actions in the day of judgment. As mentioned, last week, Hebrews 9 and 10 said the animal sacrifices of the Old Law, required they remember their sin. Christ’s sacrifice allows us to forget of that sin, on condition of forgiveness. So these are things we really want to forget, but only after forgiveness, knowing that God has forgotten, and removes from my book of life, Revelation 20:12. My book is compared with Christ’s book of life. His book mirrored God’s law of Christ. Thus, we see the importance of the Bible, specifically, the New Testament.
Tragedies are things we really want to forget. Sin is the greatest tragedy a person will ever have. Because sins under the Old Law, were to be remembered yearly, these became a heavy burden for the person to bear. Each sin added to their burden, because they were commanded to remember that sin, and it is something you want to forget because of guilt! That is why Jesus made the statement, “Take my yoke upon you...my burden is light”, Matthew 11:28-30. He delivers us from the pain of remembering.
We only forget after being forgiven by God. To forget beforehand, we will be required to give account for at judgment. So to forget, we must be forgiven by God, or suffer the consequence of our sin, eternal death. So, why would anyone want to live remembering the sin, and not want forgiveness so I can forget? So how can I be forgiven and forget? We’ll discuss this next week.