Are you proud of your memory? Are you anxious to show folks how you can recall the little details of long ago? Not me! Maybe I'm seeking justification for my weak mind, but I find reason to be proud of my "forgettery." I believe there are blessings in forgetting - and my wife says I am of all men most blessed.

The Preacher said to remember the Creator in youth - before the evil days come - when the clouds return after the rain (Eccl. 12:1-2). In good days the clouds appear, it rains, and it is all over. But there comes a day when "the clouds return after the rain." Our troubles will lnot depart. And sometimes they stay because we will not let them depart - we recallk, and relive them, over and over. It is a wise and happier man who knows when and how to forget some things.

Joseph had been ill treated by his brothers - finally, sold into slavery. He could have dwelt upon this injustice, growing more and more bitter, and finally have allowed it to wreck his own life and that of his people. But when his firstborn, Manasseh, came, Joseph said, "God hath made me forget all my toil: and all my father's house" (Gen. 41:51). "Forgiving" contains that sort of forgetting. Jesus said, "If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." When Peter asked how often he should forgive his brother, Jesus gave the indeterminate number, "Until seventy times seven" (Matt. 6:15; 18:22). One has not truly forgiven who buries the hatchet, but sets up a marker so that it may be easily exhumed. The facts of the past remain, as they did for Paul, but the bitterness, and any desire for vengeance we may have felt, must vanish.

Paul said, "... forgetting those things which are behind, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13f). No one can build a glorious future by wallowing in a sordid past. God forgives - and He calls it "remission" (Acts 2:38), or concellation. "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Heb. 10:17). God has a good forgettery when such is in order. Do we propose to know more than He about these matters? Oh ye of little faith!

Many years ago I knew a couple who were deeply hurt by the indescretion of one. The man, in the wrong, pled for forgiveness - to no avail! The woman freely acknowledged, "My pride has been wounded - I cannot forget." I fully believe this was a case where a sharp memory was a curse - and a forgettery would have been a blessing.

God has endowed us with the capacity to forget. A hot, dusty inself-filled, flat-tire, hard working fishing trip soon boils down to the fun we had catchjing that bass - the hardship part is forgotten. Wouldn't life be more fruitful if we would apply our forgettery to personal bitterness, little "digs" and "slights" that begin with pride, and feet on acid rehearsals? Christ died to give us a way to get rid of sin. Must we live trying to find a way to keep it?
                          - Robert Turner, Plain Talk, April '67

 

 

 

Behold, a hunter went one day into the country to hunt ducks. He had expensive equipment, and a good guide. The equipment had been tested and the guide knew the country. The aim of the unter was to kill a duck. About the breat of day, lo and behold, a group of ducks came flying over. The hunter took aim and fired. He killed one duck and winged another, yet he shot at the whole group. He knew he killed the duck because he never moved. But lo, he knew he only winged the one because he heard him squawking. Had it bbe killed, and not only winged, it would not have squawked.

Behold, also that a preacher went one Lord's day into the pulpit to preach. He, like the hunter, had expensive equipment, because the Bible he used was stained with the of martyrs. And his guide was good; the best one of all time. In fact, it was the only perfectly good man who ever lived - Jesus. The aim of the preacher was to slay the old man of sin in the lives of as many people as possible. About 10:50 a.m., lo and behold, a group came straggling in who had ignored the Bible classes one hour earlier. The preacher took his text and delivered the shot. He killed the old man of sin in one person, because he repented. But he only winged others, yet spoke to the whole group. He knew he only winged some because he heard them squawking. Had they not been winged, they would not have squawked. Behold - a winged duck will squawk! - Anonymous