I Forget Things

I forget things.  I forget lots of things.  I’ve joked for years that I’m a goldfish.  You know, 30 seconds of memory, once around the bowl and wow, look, a treasure chest.  I suppose it can be humorous, but it really does get frustrating from time to time. Thankfully, I am not like that with the things that really matter in life.  The family, love, and God portions of life specifically.

While I have always been forgetful, I haven’t always been a Christian.  I was an atheist until sometime between 18 and 20 years old, I couldn’t tell you exactly when.  The “funny” thing is that I never would have called myself an atheist back then because I never gave it any real thought.  It wasn’t until coming to faith that I even realized what I used to be. It was at some point surrounded by friends, Christian friends, and my Proverbs 31 fulfilling wife that I was finally touched, and my eyes were opened.

It was after coming to a church week after week and hearing a message that was undeniable that it all started to make sense to me.  It wasn’t one phenomenal pastor, in fact we didn’t even have one for awhile, it wasn’t one person or one passage that changed things for me.  It was a combined effort of honesty. Honest people living honestly for the Lord. That’s what changes people, not some perfectly planned response to all of the questions that an unknowing atheist has.

So what does that have to do with being forgetful?  Well, like I said, I can’t remember when I finally became a Christian.  I can’t remember the names of all the men that substitute preached while the church searched for a new pastor.  I can’t remember all of the intricacies of Bible studies long and not so long ago. And I can’t even remember the name to the man that said the words that finally pushed me to get baptized at 21.  The words yes, but not the man.

The point to all of this is that while all of those moments and all of those people had a major impact on my life, nothing they did or said was meant to create a lasting memory of them.  They were pointing the way to the One that I haven’t forgotten since our first true meeting.  The One that I pray I will never forget now that my eyes are open.  It doesn’t make those guiding individuals insignificant, it makes them the Christians that we are all meant to be.  They are the men and women that give what they have as they have it in order to provide those with no knowledge an unforgettable knowledge.  May we all be as forgettable as they. Amen.

- C