Are you forgetful?

Have you ever lost your keys or phone? Have you forgotten an appointment or a phone call with a friend? Have you had a conversation with someone and quickly forgot what they told you?

I for one am guilty of all of these. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with the things going on around you; for me, it often feels as if the world and people around me are spinning at least five times faster than me. I am always rushing around to keep up with it all. Is it any wonder why we get anxious and forgetful?

Sometimes we even forget the tasks God is asking of us or His promises and instructions He speaks.  Have you forgotten these things? Have you forgotten to spend time with Him and read His word? Have you forgotten to walk in mercy, grace, justice or forgiveness?  Have you forgotten that He promises that you don’t have to worry because He will provide all your needs?  All of the above?

Why do we forget these things that are so important?

Sometimes we get our priorities mixed up. Sometimes we are more worried about being on time, than whether we blow up at the person that is making us late; failing to show grace or love. Sometimes we are more worried about the problem that the person is causing than the reason they are so stressed.  Sometimes we walk past the person on the street without acknowledging them because we don’t want them to ask us for or try to sell us something; we don’t even see them as people.

And on and on and on. I have been guilty of these. Have you?

Do we even stop to acknowledge we have done something wrong? Have you ever seen how it is devaluing or dishonoring another image bearer of God? Yet we keep on running through life as if it is ok and normal. How is that loving God and our neighbor?

I remember a story my dad told me about his grandfather. He said that his grandmother was always making them late, and he would get so irritated; she never got better. Finally, he decided that it was not worth getting angry over. To his surprise, he became very patient.

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

In the Kingdom of Judah before Babylon captured them, their failure to live these commands started their spiral into destruction. They put other things before God and their neighbors. Habakkuk cries before God asking “where is the justice?” God cries out to the people through the prophets “why have you turned away from Me to love another?” Hosea is told to marry a prostitute to show the people a visual of what they are doing to their First Love, God. Prophet after prophet cried out to turn away from their distractions and fleshly pleasures and see the destruction in their wake.

You might say, “well ok, maybe I need to work on seeing my neighbor and opening my eyes a little more.” Where have you put other things before God? You might look at the things in scripture and say “well I am not burning my children to a fake god.” Or you might say “I have a great marriage, and I’m not playing around with someone else,”  or “I’m not giving false testimony of another person just to get something from them,” or “I’m not trying to become rich, I am just trying not to sink right now.”  Perhaps these are true, so what does neglected God look like in your reality?

Maybe for some it is sitting in front of the TV for hours and eating too much ice cream, causing you to “forget” to spend time with God in addition to not taking care of your body. Maybe you are too busy with your own cares that you neglect to teach your children about God, and you are instead communicating that God is to busy for them too.  Maybe you are not being loving to your spouse and showing the people around you that God is not loving to them. Maybe you are living in so much anxiety and overworking, not trusting God as your provider, showing others that He is not to be trusted.

This is what it is to be an image bearer of Christ, is it not, to show others who He is by our actions in our relationships? Yet sometimes our reactions and behaviors become so misaligned that we don’t see how we are making God appalling to others. Is that showing God we love Him?  Is it showing love to others?

Have you forgotten Gods instructions? Have you forgotten how to Love Him? Have you forgotten that He loves you? Have you forgotten who He even is?

In the time of the prophets, people had forgotten! The people did not remind or teach each other these things, and God was heartbroken and even angry:

Jeremiah 18: 15-17
Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up. Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads. Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster.”

Even then He invites them to repent and turn back to Him.

Take some time this week to process these questions; let God reveal truth in your life:

What is filling your time? What is filling your thoughts ? What are you giving underserving worth to?  What are you denying worth? What or who or where are you running to when things get hard? Where are you running to fill your needs, wants, and hopes? What are you using your money for? What truly are the most important things in your life, God, or you? Is something or someone else even more important?

If you have experienced a time when God revealed to this to you, what is your story? Share with us what it was like and what your freedom from it looked like. Your testimony has the power to help free others and make them feel like they are not so alone and powerless.