Sunday, July 14, 2019
Unforgetting!
photo by Igor Rodrigues
I'm sure the Israelites wondered and wished for a glimpse into the Ark of the Covenant that hid the items God had commanded to be put it it. Not only was looking into the ark forbidden but the ark itself was concealed under cover when it was moved with the tabernacle from resting place to resting place.
Our curiosity is easily captured when we hear of something that is hidden. We even wrap gifts to give to the recipient the added pleasure of discovering something 'secret'.
We have, without question, an innate motivation to search for what is concealed or hidden.
A God-given instinct to help us to find Him?
I learned something recently - a detail perhaps, but a detail that fascinated me.
The Greek word Aletheia is mentioned 110 times in our New Testament and is always translated 'truth' in verses such as ....
John 8:32 "Then Jesus said ..... and you shall know the truth , and the truth shall set you free!"
John 17:17 "Sanctify them by Your truth, Your word is truth."
John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth and the life...."
Our understanding of 'truth' is simply 'something that is true, a fact' , but that is not what the Greek word conveys in meaning.
Aletheia means -- 'to unforget, to unconceal' ... Letheia means to forget, conceal and when the 'a' is added to the beginning of the word, the meaning changes to indicate 'the opposite'. The same way our English 'un' changes a word meaning - for example , 'do' and 'undo'.
I found it interesting when I considered the scriptures that contained this Greek word.
I invite you to follow me in my thought path ....
In the beginning, God .... Those are the first words of our Bible
God was in the beginning, the great I AM, and He is the Source and the Creator of all things. All things belong to Him, all authority and dominion are His, and there is no voice, no word, no created thing that can come against Him or contradict anything concerning who He is or what He wills to do. His word stands without question, without shade of meaning - His word is absolute, and there are no gods beside Him to add controversy in word or deed or authority.
Adam and Ever were created in His image and walked in the beautiful Garden of Eden in perfect fellowship with God. Then came the fall, the turning away and ... the rest is history, in fact, a cycle of repeated history over the last 6,000 years.
Over and over again, man has chosen to 'forget' the words of God, to 'forget' His loving commandments, to 'forget' His warnings,, to 'forget' His miracles and His wondrous deeds on behalf of man for his good.
We understand that in the big picture . We are all familiar with the stories in our bibles and we readily shake our heads in disbelief at how foolish the Israelites could be to 'forget' the God who so loved them. We look in disgust and horror at men like Adolf Hitler who we readily acknowledge 'forgot' any good God put into their hearts.
But ... the Bible is written for our personal 'learning, admonition, edifying'. When we read the scriptures we must turn the Light - away from others - to shine in our own hearts and lives.
Over and over we 'forget' and come up with our own words, our own works and desires and purposes. We set ourselves up as the 'masters of our own fate'. We do 'what is right in our own eyes'. And over and over again we add to our 'forgetting' , and in our 'forgetting' state we are convinced we are right and all is well.
There is something powerfully deceptive in forgetting, isn't there?
I recently went grocery shopping for my Dad and I forgot to pick up an item on his list. It didn't bother me at all, I was not even aware that I HAD forgotten. It was only back in his kitchen when I glanced again at his grocery list that I had an 'unforgetting' moment of clarity. It was only in the 'unforgetting' that I became aware of what was missing and aware of my guilt.
We feel no conviction, no remorse, no need for repentance or change, in our 'forgetting' . As it is impossible to see anything when we are in the dark, so also, in our forgetting we are totally unaware that something is missing or wrong. We are blissfully ignorant of the fact that what we believe may not be based on God's truth.
Unforgetting ... Jesus says ... "I am the way, the truth, and the life" -- what if we substitute the word 'unforgetting' ?
"I am the way, the Unforgetting, and the life." Do you see how that adds depth of meaning?
Only in Jesus -- only in searching out His words .. can we 'unforget' the things in our minds, in our emotions, in our actions - contrary to His Word - that we have allowed because of our 'forgetting'.
Unforgetting' can only happen if and when we hold up our words, thoughts, deeds to His Words -- Just as I did not 'unforget' the grocery item, until I looked again upon the written words I had 'forgotten'.
We are not even be aware of our 'forgetting' if we do not search the scriptures to discover again what God said - if we do not search out the ancient paths, the old stories that teach us so much about God's will and character, the scriptures written by God's inspiration.
Jesus came to draw us back to search for Him. Keeping our eyes on Him, listening to His words will cause us to 'unforget' and bring us back into agreement with what He has declared.
Jesus 'unconcealed' for us the messages and purposes of God for us.
He is our 'Unforgetting' .. The only One who can shine a Light to reveal what we have 'forgotten'.
How much of God's word have we 'forgotten' ? How often do we just accept, without question, what is readily accepted in the world around us ? How often do we stop to consider if something has been spoken or done because some word or character trait of God has been 'forgotten' ?
Let us be diligent to 'unforget' where we have turned aside to our way, and look to Jesus who is our 'Unforgetting' Guide.
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