As I was standing around the fire with my pal, I couldn’t wait to tell him what had happened to me that week. I started the story at the very end, but he stopped me after the second sentence. “You said that last night when we were in the restaurant.” 

I felt like a fool. 

Later that evening he was telling a story about what had happened to him at work that week. After the second sentence I stopped him in his tracks, “You told me that last night when we were in the restaurant”. 

This time he felt like a fool. 

This happens more and more, the older we get. We are beginning to forget more and more. It’s probably normal that forgetfulness comes with age. We’ll have to agree on a sign, like touching your nose or something, to warn the other person that they’ve already told that story to stop us from feeling like fools. 

But the thing about not remembering isn’t just about the stories we tell and forgetting we told them. Our memory is short. We only really remember the big events. The rest soon disappears like fog before the sun. 

Especially the truths of the Bible as well. I suspect we all remember what happened at the cross. The impact of Jesus dying in our place, for our sins, is just too lifesaving, too life-changing for us to ever forget. 

But the other truths of the Bible we remember like the story we told the night before around the fire. Or most probably we don’t remember it. We forget it. As if it also slowly disappears like fog before the sun. 

Peter knows people have this problem. He knows that the people he tells about Jesus and what Jesus came to do for them on earth also easily forgets and will certainly not remember everything. Therefore, he writes: 

12 Because the stakes are so high, even though you’re up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I’m not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it. 

We know what Jesus came to do for us. We know how much God loves us. We know that He will do anything for us who are His children. But for the rest, the remembering is not so much at the forefront of our minds. 

We all have this problem, and we must prepare for it. We must know that we must read God’s Word regularly, no, daily, and revisit all the learning moments. 

We forget what God’s will is for our lives. We can’t remember how we should act in difficult situations. Then, when we act without remembering, we sow the wrong seed.  

Let’s tackle our forgetfulness and ensure that we always know because our remembering is based on our daily visits to God’s Word.  

Scripture
2 Peter 1:12-15  

Reflection
What don’t you remember?
What do you remember?
Do you remember to read God’s Word daily? 

Prayer
Lord, may I read Your Word every day so that I can learn and remember. Amen.