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Unlimited Devotions & Inspirations
© Sue Dickinson 2006
Remember: Don't Forget
James 1: 25-25: If you just listen and don’t obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. You see yourself, walk away and forget what you look like. But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law, the law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, God will bless you for doing it.
Every year my family packs the house into our Subaru Forester and makes the 14 hour drive to Northwest Arkansas to visit my parents. The car gets packed about a half hour before we hit the road, but it seems like the “we should get started” conversations start many weeks before.
And yet, despite our good intentions, it all comes down to that last day, yes, even that last hour before it’s time to leave. Then our priorities become clear: we have to pack up and move or we’ll miss a part of our precious vacation time at the lake.
In a flurry, I start throwing clothes into bags, my husband searches the basement for car tunes and my son chooses which toys to take with him (my daughter, who has completely different priorities, blissfully watches Barney as we all run around her). We dump everything in the front yard and pray no one stops before we get it all packed in the car with the mistaken belief that it’s a yard sale.
But we work together as a team and get it all packed, only to drive a quarter mile down the road and discover something we forgot!
“Work every day like it’s the day before vacation.” Zig Ziglar’s advice for how to become more efficient has stuck with me over the years, because of its simplistic logic. His premise is that on the day before vacation, we have only one aim: to get out as quickly as possible; so we are impervious to the normal distractions that entice us on a regular day.
On the day before vacation, we don’t take a lot of time for idle chatter or to balance our checkbook (unless we have to make sure there’s enough in the account for vacation…). And if we can duplicate that focus every day, our lives will be more efficient and successful.
God is giving us the same message in James when he tells us in his third step for discovering the blessings and rewards he’s prepared for us to “don’t forget what you heard.” Before this instruction, God has already told us to keep looking into God’s word (or learn as much as you can), to do what it says, and now he says don’t forget.
At first glance, Step 3 may be thought of as overkill. After all, if we’re committing to the study of God’s Word, and we’re following through with action, how could we ever forget what we heard?
I guess the answer lies in our priorities.
For example, I know I should floss my teeth. I’ve read numerous articles about the benefits, and my Dentist loves to lecture me on the importance of flossing. Every visit, I go home with my new box of waxy floss vowing that this time I will floss every day.
It lasts for a few days, maybe a week. Then, one morning I’m in a hurry, so I promise myself that I will do it later. But I don’t. Then the next day, another excuse pops up. I feel a twinge of guilt, but figure I’ll just make up for it later.
I clean the bathroom counter, and put the floss in the cabinet.
Pretty soon, I don’t even feel guilty. Intellectually, I know I should floss. But practically, I’ve forgotten so often that I don’t even remember that I forgot. It’s not a priority.
Which is why Step 3 of God’s process, while it may seem to be an afterthought, is really the most important step of all. Without putting God first in our lives, it will never be a priority to us to “keep looking” or to “do what he says”. So, we may follow steps 1 & 2 for a few days or even a week. But we’ll forget one day, and then another we’ll move the unused Bible out of the way, until eventually, we won’t even remember that we forgot. It just won’t be a priority.
My Dentist is always on me to floss because there is a distinct possibility that if I continue to neglect my teeth I may lose one or more in the future. Jesus gives a similar warning to his disciples in John 15: 5 - 6: ….apart from me, you can do nothing. Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”
Thankfully, however, that is not the end of the story! Because if we do focus on what’s important and follow through on Step 3 of God’s wonderful plan laid out in James 1: 23-25, He is ready and excited to follow through on his promise to bless us for doing it. The blessings he has in store are beyond our imagination, and will make the most fabulous of vacations pale in comparison. And all we have to do is to remember our priorities and live every day like it’s the day before eternity - the greatest blessing of all. I’d say that’s something worth remembering not to forget!
More to Explore:
Proverbs 3: 5-6
Ephesians 5: 15-17
Do you find it hard to trust in the Lord without understanding where you’re headed? Does that uncertainty make it easier or harder to make God a priority? How can we know if a path we are on is God’s plan or our plan?
John 15: 1-16
What does Jesus mean by “bearing fruit?” What fruit are you bearing today? Juicy, wormy,, or “fruit that will last?” Thinking about your priorities today, does this passage make you nervous or joyful? How about when you remember the do-overs that God gives you? How do your thoughts toward this passage change when you consider the dynamic of Love? After considering this passage, how will your priorities change today?
Prayer: Lord, in this busy world, it’s easy to forget to remember to make You a priority in my life and the lives of my children. I’m sorry for getting caught up in the every day without focusing on what is important. Thank you for the process you’ve laid out for remaining true to You, and please help me to follow it’s direction: to listen to your Word, to do what it says, and to never forget what I’ve heard. Please help me to teach my children to do the same. Thank you for your love and patience. In your name, Amen
About the author: Sue Dickinson
Sue Dickinson is a mom, a business woman, and the founder of www.Unlimited Mom.com, a web site and e-newsletter designed to celebrate the many facets of Mom - including her walk with God. Sue is also the author of the book: "What's a Mom to Do? Overcoming the Urge to Put Your Life on Hold", which can be purchased at unlimitedmom.com .
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