Thought for the Week

How’s your memory?

Perhaps, like mine, it’s not as good as it once was, and you forget things you should recall.

Or perhaps it’s too good, and your recall things you should forget.

What about God’s memory? Surely, he doesn’t forget.

No, he doesn’t. Since God is eternal and therefore stands outside of time, it may be that every moment in time is always present with him.

And yet, the Bible often speaks of God not remembering something – people’s sins.

One example is Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 34: ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’

It is not that God forgets in the way that I forget where I have left my wallet or car keys.

In the Bible, ‘to remember’ is another way of talking about keeping a promise. We use ‘to remember’ in that way too.

‘Don’t forget to phone me when you arrive home,’ shouts Morag, as her daughter heads home after visiting her.

‘Don’t worry, Mum. I’ll remember.’ Sure enough, Morag’s phone rings later, and the voice at the other ends says: ‘It’s me. I’m home.’

God does not forget our sins in the sense of pretending they never happened or ignoring our failure and refusal to do what he wants.

Instead, he remembers his promise to forgive the sins of anyone who asks him to do so.

He is able to do this because Jesus has died on the cross to deal effectively with sin’s penalty.

So, when you trust in Jesus, God refuses to hold your sin against you, but treats you in the way you do not deserve. He forgives you and remembers your sins no more.

Dr Rodger M Crooks, Free Church of Scotland, Tarbert and Lochgilphead.