Every Friday I join a community of bloggers for Five Minute Friday. One word prompt, five minutes. Unedited. The prompt this week is … Forget.
We forget.
We don’t want to forget, but we do.
There are times we fail to recall the details of situations. Worse yet, we move forward neglecting to take the lessons learned with us so as not to repeat them.
Over the course of time, as the memories fail, the sting of bad choices fades and the consequences felt are long behind us.
Memory has long been a problem of people, especially God’s people. He was constantly reminding them to remember:
“Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don’t forget anything of what you’ve seen. Don’t let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you’ve seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.” (Deuteronomy 4:9, MSG)
There are three parts to this process of being able to not forget:
Be intentional. Remember what you have seen and experienced.
Guard the memories. Don’t let the memories fade or slip away. Hold onto the lessons you have learned.
Pass them on. Share experiences and lessons with children and grandchildren. Tell the stories in an engaging way so they begin to hold onto them as well.
God encouraged His people to remember the course of events, at times to even celebrate them. When we do this on a regular basis, even annually like the feasts in biblical times, we are better able to remember.
We remember Who He is.Â
We remember His faithfulness.Â
We remember He is with us in this day.
Photo by Gary Bendig on Unsplash
Today I may be joining …
I have lived some frightful days,
and know not to regret
the myriad effective ways
I’ve learned how to forget
some of the things I had to do
in my harsh profession,
that prompted folks, when I was through,
to think hell was in session.
You cannot drink these things away,
no opium can offer ease;
when the worst has been in play
the only true surcease
to that which we could not be blind
is to firmly place it all behind.
I love how you broke it down into 3 sections of how to remember, I should put those somewhere so I don’t forget!
I hope this was all right to share on my facebook page, Deep Calls to Deep?
The following line resonated deeply with me today. “Over the course of time, as the memories fail, the sting of bad choices fades and the consequences felt are long behind us.” May we not forget the lessons, but may we remember we are forgiven!
we are told to tell our stories to our children. telling what we have learned helps to cement it in our brains doesn’t it?
It is so easy for me to forget unless I write it down and keep a record to look back on.
Just love the way you broke this down!
Stopping by from FMF #34
I love the three stages of the process. They make so much sense – sharing is such an integral part of remembering!
FMF #3
I’m so thankful God gave us brains to remember. And ways to keep the memories alive if we intentionally choose to!