I forgot three things yesterday. There might have been more, but I can’t remember.
I forgot something Penny told me. I forgot my wallet when needing to pay for a coffee in a coffee shop. Finally, I forgot I had Apple Pay set up on my phone and so could have paid for the coffee without going home for my wallet. Must have shaken some brain cells loose recently.
What we remember and what we forget are significant to our spiritual well-being. As Christopher Ash says in his book, “I am frail and fragile, and I do well never to forget it.” Fragility is not an attractive concept, but remembering our weaknesses is vital. Such remembrance keeps us looking to God for strength instead of succumbing to complacency and self-dependance. A friend and I discussed this section of Jeremiah today, “…blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7–8 NIV11) If I remember my frailty I’m guaranteed to be evergreen – not deciduous.
Here’s something it’s good to remember – that God forgets. Ah, at last something positive about forgetfulness! Another passage from the same book, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34 NIV11). I can accept that such an anthropomorphic description of God may not be literally accurate, but it expresses something crucial about Him. His view of me now as a forgiven son is the same as his view of his Son who did not need to be forgiven. I am one who relates to God as one-who-never-sinned. That’s something worth remembering!
Now, where are those run-away brain cells…..?
Malcolm
PS – the coffee shop in question serves super Belgian coffee (who knew such a thing existed?) – pop along to the “Coffee House & Deli”, 141 New Road, Croxley Green, WD3 3EN
