Don't forget, now

Well, I've come a long, long way. I've finally reached the stage where I forget things. Others have been there for a while. But all I had was a memory that let me juggle several things in place and do several tasks at once.

But apparently I forgot how to do that.

This morning, so far, I've forgotten where my keys were, wallet was and barely found my shoes. That's normal. Last night I forgot a meeting was at 6 p.m. and I was going early for a 7 p.m. meeting. I can't forget the plaintive, "Ohhhhhhh, Billy" at the end of the cell phone, as if I ever did that before. Then this morning I have a tele-conference class that starts in 45 minutes or so, and I can't locate the book that it is based upon. I have read it, but clearly I'm not nearly as sure I will remember what it said now than I might have two days ago.

I forgot.

I never accepted that as an adequate reason before, but now I see that sometimes it is the only thing left to you.

I forgot.

I forgot what last week's sermon was about. I forgot when I was supposed to meet with so-and-so at the office. I forgot ... did I put that deoderant on or did I not?

I forgot. I once forgot my wife, leaving her at the church one Sunday morning but I had a good excuse: I was hurrying home to see the Saints. When she called asking, "Did you forget something." The only thing I could think to say was, "Who is this?" I still didn't understand that I had forgotten her.

The Bible seems to indicate that all forgots are not punishable by OOOHHHHH Billy's. That most of them are forgiven forgots.

Except...

17 They sacrificed to demons, which are not God—
gods they had not known,
gods that recently appeared,
gods your fathers did not fear.

18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot the God who gave you birth.

19 The LORD saw this and rejected them
because he was angered by his sons and daughters.

We can forget our keys, our glasses, our cars, our clothes, our shoes, our jobs, our kids and our spouses, but we can not forget our God. God takes exception to that. The Bible speaks of anger, but it is the rejection of the Lord that frightens me. What if I forget him, forget to worship him, forget to love him, forget to talk to him, forget to have that relationship with him? What if I forget?

He can, and sometimes will, reject me.

I can never forget what life was like before God. That keeps me going, when the answers to prayer seem so far away. All I need to do is think of one day in my life, the day before I met him, and my inspiration to try is back. No dry day, no deep valley of remorse, no pain that I'm suffering is as terrible as that day, the day before He accepted me back.

I can never forget that.

Remember?