By Jodie Boren

A while back, I forgot something — I don’t remember what — so my daughter laughed and said I was suffering from “old timer’s disease.” A lot of jokes are made about old people forgetting, but the truth is young people forget just as frequently as older folks. We all forget things now and then! This is why Peter felt a keen responsibility to remind the brethren in Asia Minor of the truths they had been taught (2 Peter 1:12, 13, 15).

One of the main reasons we forget something is a lack of interest in that particular thing. Because we will one day be judged by God’s word (John 12:48), it’s imperative that we respect, love, and desire God’s word (Psalm 19:7-11).

We are to hunger and thirst after the righteousness contained in God’s revelation (Psalm 119:172 and Matthew 5:6). God warned Israel in Deuteronomy 4:23, “Take heed unto yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God.” In Deuteronomy 6:12, Moses wrote, “…beware lest thou forget the Lord.” In Deuteronomy 8:11-14, we find a great exhortation not only to obey the commands of God but to not forget the Lord: “Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” As Christians, we’ve been delivered from the bondage of sin — we can’t forget God!

All Christians are God’s Israel of today (Galatians 6:16). Thus, James says that we are not to be a forgetful hearer but a doer of God’s word (James 1:22-25). In this context, James says the one blessed is the one that continues in the perfect law of liberty, i.e., the gospel. This, of course, means following the teaching of Christ.

What will happen if we forget the Lord? We can turn to Jeremiah 23 and read the warning given to the wicked priests and prophets some 600 years before Christ. The record states in v.39, “Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence.” Can you imagine anything more tragic than being forgotten by God and cast from His glorious presence? It’s terrible to even contemplate such a thing! Since the same God is still the sovereign ruler today as in Jeremiah’s time, should we not heed that warning? Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”

If we do not forget the Lord but serve Him faithfully, the reward is great! Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you. There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29). What a precious promise!

It’s no laughing matter to forget the Lord and His word. Our eternal destiny depends on our remembering the Lord and His covenant. Just as remembering names, dates, etc. takes desire, effort, and practice, so does remembering the Lord. May we all be diligent seekers of God (Hebrews 11:6).

[Copied from Plumbline–Editor, Wayne Coats, Vol. 3. Num. 2, September 1998]