Forgetting is the Root of Apostasy

Remembering is the work of the redeemed.  Forgetting is the root of apostasy and forgetting always precedes falling.  Remembering is so vitally important to everyday life, but it’s something we usually take for granted.  All too often we forget the things we should remember and remember the things we should forget.  In the Christian life it is of the utmost importance to learn and practice rightly remembering, because…

Forgetting Always Precedes Falling

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. (Revelation 3:3)

Forgetting leads to falling—which is just another word for sin. When we forget Who God is and what He has done, we are prone to wander from His ways and be guided by our own thoughts and desires. Forgetting causes us to think more about what we can do, instead of what God has done; more about what we desire, than what God commands of us; more about who we can be, rather than who He made us to be; more about ourselves, and less about God.[1] Perhaps one of the most frightening verses in the Bible is found in the book of Judges.  I say this because it so aptly describes the condition we find in our world today…

Judges 2:10  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.  

We live in a time, when people are forgetting God.  Many don’t want to know Him, and the great and mighty works of His hands; and yet others belong to Him (Christians) and the pull on their hearts, of worldly desires and fleshly longings, causes them to forget. So why do we, who call ourselves by His great name, forget our God?  Robert Robinson stated it so clearly, in his 1768 hymn Come Thou Font of Every Blessing, with this one line:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love

Those words are so true.  God loved us when we were so unlovable.  While we were yet sinners, He sent Jesus to die for us (Romans 5:8).  We didn’t do anything to deserve it or to earn it.  Because God is love (1 John 4:16), and in His great love for us He gave us Jesus (John 3:16).  It is only by His love that we are truly able to love others.  We love God and we love others because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). So when we are tempted to forget, and we become “prone to wander,” we must turn our thoughts back to remembering who God is and what He has done for us.  We must remember the goodness, mercy, and grace of our awesome God.  We must focus our eyes on Jesus and open our ears to hear His Word.  Jesus spoke of this to the disciples, when He said  “… Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?” (Mark 8:18)  We don’t want to have eyes that don’t see, ears that don’t hear…and we don’t want to forget.

Remembering is the Work of the Redeemed Forgetting is the Root of Apostasy

• Renew your mind with the truths of God — remember who God is

• Refresh your soul with the rest found only in Christ — remember what He has done for us.

• Receive the precious promises of who you are in Christ—remember you are a new creation, in the process of being conformed to His glorious image.

Turn your wandering heart to Christ and remember Him.  Take a minute to read and reflect on these words from the song, Remember Me by Mark Schultz.

Remember Me
In a Bible cracked and faded by the years.
Remember Me
In a sanctuary filled with silent prayer.
Remember Me
When the color of the sunset fills the sky.
Remember Me
When you pray and tears fall from your eyes.
And age to age, And heart to heart,
Bound by grace and peace.
Child of wonder, Child of God,
I’ve remembered you,
Remember Me.

(Deut 8:18 ….remember the Lord)

Let this season of Lent, and the upcoming celebration of Easter, be a time when you resolve to live your life rightly remembering your Saviour.  Rightly remembering Jesus will establish your heart, anchor your soul and renew your mind.

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[1] Why the Butterfly? Rightly Remembering Jesus, available at www.reasonsforhopeJesus.com/store