If God let Moses put breaking of the Ten Commandments—literally—behind him, what could be a greater example of God’s “forgetfulness”?  (Exodus 34)

There was a generation that forgot God.  Not only did they forget Him, they replaced Him (Judges 2: 11) and worshipped idols.  God meant for them to show their neighbors that He was God; instead they forsook the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who had delivered them from Egyptian slavery and began worshipping the gods of their pagan neighbors.  Fathers failed to propagate their faith in their children.  God listened when they repented and returned, but allowed their enemies to overcome them when they left Him.  Ensuing generations didn’t have faithful teachers to preserve their ancestors’ faith and began to worship what they observed around them and conformed to it.

“And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10).

They forsook the true God they couldn’t see and gave their attention to Baal, the visible false god.

They had not seen the great things God had done for their fathers, and the fathers didn’t tell them.  They didn’t know it on their own; they needed to be taught that God blessed when the people didn’t forget Him.  They were on their own when they rejected Him, but when they repented, He forgot their unfaithfulness and showered them with blessings.

God remembered their contrition and repentance; he blessed and prospered them.

Without faith, we forget and serve what we can see.

 “And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger” (Judges 2:12).

It seems that history has repeated itself.  We have a generation living now that fits this description.  Many in the adult generation do not “know the LORD, nor yet the works,” so they aren’t able to tell their children.  This has been so glaringly evident in the children we have on youth night at church.  Many of the children only come on youth night; their parents don’t come at all.  Many of these kids have never heard of Adam and Eve, David and Goliath, Moses, the disciples, etc.  They don’t recognize any books of the Bible and don’t understand who Jesus is. 

God wants them to remember!  He wants to forgive and restore!  He wants a generation that will instill in their children the truths that will keep them in touch with a loving, forgiving God

When they cried to the Lord, He delivered them.  He forgot their unfaithfulness.  (Judges 2:18)

We Remember

It has been said that if we don’t forget, we haven’t forgiven.  This is not exactly the way it works.  Our brain has stored things that have caused us pain and disappointment as well as pleasantries.  Sometimes the strangest things will cause us to recall incidents that we have “shelved” in our minds, things we had determined to forget.  You see, as long as our brain works, it remembers.  I love the definition that my Mother gave to real forgiveness:  We know we have forgiven when we can recall the person or the incident that caused us pain—without malice or ill will.  We can remember the incident or person, but we don’t have the pain when our mind brings it up.

Beware!  The devil remembers too!  His lethal whispers will attempt to stir unrest in our souls and put thoughts in our minds hoping to reinstate the pain.  He loves to remind us of our failures and sins that Jesus has already nailed to His cross and cleansed us from.  It is then that we can apply the forgiveness factor.  If Jesus forgives unconditionally, so can we—because He enables us to forgive, ourselves and others.  Not being God, we can’t forget, but we can remember forgiveness, received and given!

We Must Not Forget

We must never forget that we are forgiven for every sin we ever committed, even the ones for which we despise ourselves.  We must always remember they were eradicated at Calvary, and OH what a price was paid for them!  We must never forget that Jesus gave His all so that we could be pure in His sight.  He will never remember our forgiven sins again.  And we have instant access to His forgiveness when we fail—and we will, as long as we are in this world. 

We must not forget how much God loves us—so much that “He gave His only begotten Son” to redeem us.  He is wooing us to return so He can forgive and restore us to a relationship with Him.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1John 1:9).

Incredibly, not only are we cleansed and forgiven; but we are declared innocent!  There is a difference in just being forgiven and being innocent.  A convicted convict can be forgiven and even receive a pardon and go free, but he is still guilty of the crime.  What Jesus does for those who come to Him for forgiveness is:  He removes the sin, takes it upon Himself and does not remember it again.  With the sin REMOVED, there is no more guilt—only innocence! 

God has forgotten we ever sinned!

“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isaiah 43:25).

“…for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

The verdict is in, and it is:   “Not Guilty!”

~~Delores~~

Courtroom picture is in Clinton County, Ohio

@ There's Good News July 2013