A Life in Exile

As we saw in the Old Testament passages from last week, man is quick to forget and fails to learn from past events. At the same time, forgetting the past can be a blessing. We have a few passages in the New Testament that will address this today, serving as reminders of our need to hold on to that which draws us to God, while forgetting what pulls us away.

We forget what Jesus has done for us.

I have always appreciated the life-lesson I learned from Henry Blackaby’s study, Experiencing God. In this wonderful Bible study, he talks about how spiritual markers serve as reminders of times when God did something new or important in our life. We place those markers (symbolic, written, or otherwise) to help us to remember God’s faithfulness in the past.

Why?

Because we tend to forget.

The disciples did, and they only had a three-year span of time with Jesus on this earth. Still, he called them out for so quickly forgetting and letting their trust in Christ fall. The sixteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel records a conflict with the Sadducees and Pharisees, after which, Jesus and the disciples get in a boat to head to the other side of the lake. Once there, they realize they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus decides to use their grumblings for a teachable moment.

Then Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

They were discussing among themselves, “We didn’t bring any bread.”

Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread? Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you collected? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many large baskets you collected? Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,’ it wasn’t about bread?” Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the leaven in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:6-12 CSB, emphasis added)

Their worry about bread was not the point. Didn’t they remember that Jesus had provided not just for them but for thousands on more than one occasion? No, he wasn’t talking about bread anyway, but about the bad teaching of the religious leaders.

In Mark’s record of this conversation, he includes a harsh statement from Jesus: Do you have hardened hearts? Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear? And do you not remember? (Mark 8:17b-18)

When we forget the works of God and his faithfulness in our lives, it’s as if we are both blind and deaf. It’s bad enough to have a faulty memory, but forgetting God’s work in our lives leads us to fail to see and hear him working in the present. Are you blind to the works of God in your life and around you in the world? Do you fail to hear him speaking through his Word and through others in the Body of Christ? Maybe it’s time to reflect and remember.

The good in forgetting.

There are events in our lives that are hard to forget. For those who have known persecution or trials because of their faith, the wounds can last a lifetime. Yet, in the light of eternity, our lives are just a flicker on the screen. The hurts and trials will soon pass away as Christ returns. On that day, all suffering will be forgotten.

The disciples were feeling the pain of the pending departure of their rabbi. They didn’t fully understand what was about to happen, but they knew they were sad about it. They didn’t want him to leave them. Jesus had words of comfort for them that are good for us as well.

Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you. (John 16:20-22, emphasis added)

The joy we will know at Christ’s return will remove all suffering we might know on this earth. We may know sorrow now, but will forget it later.

Paul uses another analogy to talk about the need to forget any pain we might experience in following Christ—it’s that of a runner.

Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. (Philippians 3:12-15a, emphasis added)

As mature Christians, we are to let Christ alone be our focus, which means we put behind us all that this world holds and any pain that comes in reaching our goal. For the sake of following Christ, some have put behind them careers, wealth, sinful pleasures, power, and fame. Others have put behind them the hurt, name-calling, family disownment, loss of jobs or status, abuse, and suffering—forgotten it all for the joy that is before them in Christ Jesus.

Are you having trouble in forgetting any losses you’ve experienced for the sake of knowing Christ? Don’t let them weigh you down. Focus on Christ and the joy he brings in the present and the hope he offers for the future. Be purposeful in your forgetfulness for the sake of the Savior.

Remember that which draws you closer to the Lord and forget that which no longer has value for the Kingdom to come.

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Friday Focus post, click HERE, or start from the Beginning.