What And Why Do We Easily Forget?
James 1
KJV
25+ But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Like many of you, I have often struggled to remember important calendar dates, such as birthdays and anniversaries. The reason(s) for these form the basis of this article.
Many have accused me of forgetting their birthdays, marriage anniversaries, outdooring, and other such ceremonies and they are right in doing so. I’ve always pleaded guilty and offered sincere apologies.
But why is it so, is a question I set out to find out and here is what I discovered!
Anything that does not occur daily, any item that I don’t use daily, falls under this category. Birthdays don’t occur every day, marriage anniversaries do not occur every day so the possibility of me forgetting them is high. You can make a list of things that do not occur daily in your life.
Now, there are two most important things that can be so embarrassing in life if forgotten! You may ask what these are? I’d love to leave it to you to find out but for the sake of time, I’d like to help!
These are passwords and scriptures! These two if not used regularly can be forgotten with dire consequences!
Imagine standing in front of an ATM Machine on a cashless day trying to withdraw money for the weekend.
Imagine trying to open your laptop or tablet and being requested to input your password because it has been a long time since you used it.
What about the scriptures?
Imagine being confronted with a spiritual challenge, and you open the Bible to read a verse that will comfort and help you pray, only to discover you’ve forgotten the book, chapter and verse where to find the verse.
Imagine being engaged with someone in a discussion in which you have proven publicly that the other party is in the wrong, and he demands to know the passage of scripture that forms the basis of your conclusions. You took the Bible flipped through but could not locate the verse.
Dearly beloved, like passwords, the bible if not regularly studied or read the tendency to forget its contents are very high. So to avoid this use your passwords regularly and read the Bible daily
The majority have put their passwords as it were on “autopilot”, once signed in they never revisit it again. These do argue “ oh I don’t have time to be retyping “ It is when the equipment crashes or gets corrupted that is when they see the importance of typing in the password regularly.
In the way many have put their lives ( mind, brains!) on “ autopilot “ they are not learning anything new. They are content and satisfied with what they knew several years ago! It is these who resist change everywhere hence the lack of development and growth wherever they find themselves.
If you care to know “ autopilot” is a lazy way of living, a lazy way to lead people or institutions as it lacks growth and dynamism.
To avoid forgetting things in life, adopt a sign-in-each-day approach, the constant and regular use of anything helps retain knowledge and wisdom.
Let me conclude with these wise words of comparison by the Hebrew writer
Hebrews 5:12,14
NIV
[12] In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! [14] But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
The operative words are “ constant use”. Use your passwords regularly just as you'll read the bible.
My take.