Remember to Forget

I've never been the brightest bulb.

I can't recall anyone complimenting me on my 'street smarts.' 

But I have usually been graced enough to be surrounded by people who are pretty sharp so as to compensate for my.....ahem....foggy brain.

But there is one mental faculty that I am awesome at.

Forgetting.

I forget better than anyone I know.  If it didn't happen last week then I don't remember it. 

And I have improved this fine art as the years (and the babies) have come along. 

I admit it would be nice to reminisce on days and holidays gone by with family.  Or to be able to tell the children about how I met their father.  But it ain't happening.  At least it isn't happening in such great detail. 

Sometimes my forgetfulness is more than a nuisance.  It feels like a burden.  One of the few things we can into the future are the memories of the past. And though I try to be intentional about making these memories with the ones I love, I am honestly sad that I struggle to remember some of them. 

But I am learning there are ways around my forgetfulness.  Lots of picture taking and journaling.  Having the kids tell me stories of how we celebrated or trips we went on.  This helps jog the ol' foggy brain.

And then I thought of this.

Forgetting.  It might not be all  bad.  In fact, we are called to forget.  His Letter to us tells us that over and over. 

We are to forget the old expectations and way of living.

“Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the desert

and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:18-19

 

 

To forget the wordly ambitions and trophies we run to.

 

 

 

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:13-14

 

 

 

To forget ourselves.

 

 

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Philippians 2:2-4

The Message

But above all I am thankful not only that I CAN forget.  But that the One who made me and knows all my ways chooses to forget.  To remember my sins no more. 

“The time is coming,” declares the Lord,

“when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah.

  It will not be like the covenant

I made with their forefathers

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,

though I was a husband to them,”

declares the Lord.

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

No longer will a man teach his neighbor,

or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest,”

declares the Lord.

“For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more.”

 Jeremiah 31:31-34

That, my friend, is true forgetfulness.  And for this I am most thankful.

Thanksgiving celebrates remembrance.  To be mindful of our blessings and all the grace lavished on us this year and every year.  And this year one of my biggest blessings has been forgetfulness.  To be able to let go of the way I lived before Him, to let go of wrongs done or hurtful words said to me.   To forget myself for the rest of my life.....letting go of any rights I might have to myself.....to receive an eternal reward.

So this year as we gather around our table I am going to try to forget.  Forget myself.  Forgive the hurt. And to relish in the joy and freedom that comes with His ultimate gift of forgetting.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful day of Thanks!