Remembering And Forgetting

Lucy Holt

Perhaps I am just getting to an age where memory is changing and important in a new way.

Last week I thought I had lost two large winter squash, as I didn’t think I’d seen them when I put the shopping away. I checked the car boot and eventually thought I must have left them in my trolley.

Later I opened a cupboard and there they were in the correct place in a drawer with the potatoes. When I saw them I suddenly did remember putting them there!

I wish I could choose to forget some things this effectively. There are certainly episodes from my own life which I wish I could just rub out from my memory. Mistakes I have made, and also things and people that have hurt me.

In the Old Testament there are many references to God ‘remembering’ people when they need help:

Lord, remember David and all that he suffered. (Psalm 132:1, NLT)

And there are also times when He ‘forgets’ the mistakes which people have made:

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (Jeremiah 31:34, NIV)

Since God does know everything this clearly isn’t about no longer having the information about the event available. Remembering and forgetting in this context is more of a legal idea; more like a deliberate cancelling of a library fine. The late-returned book was still late and somewhere the record system knows this, however the debt is now forgotten and does not need paying.

Equally, to be remembered by God means more than just an awareness of our existence. It is more like remembering someone’s birthday - positive action is implied.

When God remembers us, He cares and He helps.

What does this mean for us? How is our choice to forgive linked to choosing to forget?