Five Minute Friday - Forget

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One word. Five minutes to write about it. This is the idea behind Five Minute Friday and this is today's free-writing post.

forget me not

forgive and forget

never forget

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Some events or truths seem like they would be unforgettable. Like a graduation, a wedding day, the birth of a child, and other significant events like a big move or winning a championship. Tragic events can seem unforgettable as well. If you were alive and old enough to know what was going on, you probably remember exactly where you were when JFK was shot, when Challenger exploded, and when the twin towers collapsed on 9/11. 

This is why it's amazing to me that Moses' farewell speech in Deuteronomy includes so many reminders to Israel to remember what God to bring them out of Egypt and keep them for forty years in the wilderness. Time and again he says, "do not forget what God has done for you," and I wonder . . . how could they possibly forget such miracles? 

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. ~Deuteronomy 4:9

But as Steve Martin joked, "the public has such a short memory." Perhaps those who lived it wouldn't forget, but if they didn't tell the story to their descendants, how would they know? Perhaps those who lived it wouldn't forget, but after so many years had passed, maybe it seemed like it was just reminiscing about the good old days. 

On Friday - when I might otherwise have been writing this! - I was at a company picnic, and had the opportunity to tell a coworker the story of how God worked out perfect 'coincidences' one after another in order for us to move to the USA, and then from our first stop in NJ to our present home in Maryland. And more recently, how God's perfect timing brought my husband to his new job and how all those pieces have fallen into place. These miracles look different from a pillar of cloud and fire or manna in the wilderness, but they are miracles, and I do not want to forget what God did for us. Or forget how it felt to see those doors opened or those roadblocks cleared. 

We have to tell the story of God's goodness over and over. We have to pass it on to the next generation, so they know that it's more than just something the old folks reminisce about - it really happened! We also have to tell the story to remind ourselves, because while we may not actually forget, we have a tendency to get complacent and to live like we've forgotten. We have to tell the story so that we don't forget how great God is and all the reasons we have to trust and obey.

Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up . . . 

When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you . . . be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

~Deuteronomy 6:3-12~

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My people, hear my teaching:

listen to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth with a parable;

I will utter hidden things, things from of old -

things we have heard and known,

things our ancestors have told us.

We will not hide them from their descendants;

we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,

his power, and the wonders he has done.

He decreed statutes for Jacob

and established the law in Israel,

which he commanded our ancestors

to teach their children,

so that the next generation would know them,

even the children yet to be born,

and they in turn would tell their children.

Then they would put their trust in God

and would not forget his deeds

but would keep his commands.

~Psalm 78:1-7~

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I did not forget to write on Friday . . . I'm just trying to adjust to a new work schedule while keeping up with all my physical therapy appointments and so many other things. Including a new granddaughter born last week! Soon things will change again as the school year begins, and I can't possibly have many more weeks of therapy left. In the meantime, I try to stay flexible!

This post is linked at Five Minute Friday for the word prompt "Forget".

This post will be linked at Let's Have Coffee hosted by Joanne Viola: Days and Thoughts

 

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