Memories are precious. The older we get, the more we seek to revisit our happiest days in our mind’s eye. Once there were only a few framed photographs to help a person conjure up a bygone day. Today’s children will have a deluge of digital photos to swipe through and videos to watch.

Memories can also be painful. Our most recent memories are often of a loved one in decline not in their prime. Times when we were deeply hurt come flooding back. Embarrassing episodes can still make us blush.

At this time each year, we remember the fallen in war. In buying our poppies we help those forever changed in the conflicts. And we know that the scars they bear are mental as well as physical. Post traumatic stress shows the painful power of our memories.

It has been truly said:

“What we want to forget, we remember – and what we want to remember, we forget.”

With dementia and Alzheimer’s the leading cause of death and mental health problems on the rise, we would love to control our memories.

Man looking wistfully out of window

We find great hope in the only one who can control his memory. Again and again we read in the Bible of God remembering his people. He promised:

I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.

Isaiah 49:15-16

Today it is not uncommon for a parent to have a birth date tattoo for a child. But Christians are reminded of the scars of crucifixion. God, who is infinitely big, made himself small by being born into this world. The Lord Jesus Christ took on a body so that he might have nails driven through his hands, and die for those who trust in him.

This leads to another amazing promise. Do you have things that you are desperate to forget? Many do. Often things playing on their conscience.

For all who confess their sins to God, thanking Jesus for dying in the place, and seeking his forgiveness, God makes a promise that only he has the power to make:

I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.

Hebrews 10:17

Meghan Markle made a false claim to a court, only for an email to expose her. We know that, without God’s forgiveness, we dare not stand before his perfect court. On the last day with every message read, every click recorded and every thought uncovered, we will be found guilty.

That’s why his offer of forgiveness is so precious. He will wipe every one of our sins from his memory if we turn from them and seek his forgiveness.

This is not a vague hope but a certainty because it is based on the word of the only one who has control of his memory.

If you have any questions or would like to know more please contact us.

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