The Poison of Forgetfulness: Do Not Forget the Faithfulness of God

Forgetfulness of God’s past mercies can plague all of us from time to time and we do so to our own harm, comfort and discredit. To be sure, we receive many mercies from God’s Hand yet how often we quickly forget and begin whining like a two year olds who just finished a piece of candy and continues to cry for more and more. Indeed, most babies come out screaming and grasping, Amen? That should give us a hint into human nature, Amen? As believers in sweet Jesus, we can easily fall into the category of the unsatisfied when we choose to forget God’s past mercies towards us (and there are many), dwelling instead on the things we desire presently and lack. Indeed, to forget is very human – it seems to come with the package of natural man. Yet, to be grateful is divine and comes from above through the heart of the regenerate.  
 
God’s chosen people were no different – forgetfulness plagued Israel after their mighty deliverance from Egypt all the way into the promised land. Crying and complaining and desiring things they had had in bondage. Yet, forgetting the things that He did provide – deliverance from their enemies, manna in the morning, shoes that did not wear out, quail and on and on. What they desired drove out the memory of what they had. Isn’t that so much like human nature to want to go back to the wallowing in the pigpen of our bondage in lieu of walking in the freedom that God so desires for us to walk in? Every believer in Christ Jesus has been set free from the bondage of sin and depravity – why would we want to go back to that? Paul writes in Galatians 5:1 (NIV): “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Why, indeed?

It is uber easy to forget God’s past mercies and begin to dwell on what we lack or long for presently. Forgetting God’s faithfulness bleeds into subsequent generations and we begin to look and cry out like the Israelites from the past. God desires for His people to be grateful – not boastful or proud or forgetful of past mercies. As the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV): “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” Everything arrives from His Hand and is for our ultimate good and His glory – never one surpassing the other. Further, God loves a grateful heart.