May 18th, 2026
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
Remembered or Forgotten
A man was walking down the street hand in hand with his wife. He saw an old friend walking toward them. As the two grew nearer, the man began struggling to recall the old friend’s name. He pondered and strained his brain for remembrance. At the moment they met the name flooded into his mind. In great relief he reached out and shook the hand of his old friend. He turned to his wife and said, “Honey, this is my very old friend George! George, this is my wife, uh, uh, uh.” He had forgotten her name.
To be remembered is a great honor. To be forgotten is a tragic disgrace.
When you look through Scripture, one of the most tragic lines is…They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, (Psalm 106:21). Similar words are found in Deuteronomy 32:18, Judges 3:7, 1 Samuel 12:9, Psalm 44:20, Isaiah 17:10, Jeremiah 3:21, Jeremiah 13:25. The greatest insult to God is when the people he created, loved, sacrificed his only Son to save, and to whom he offered underserved forgiveness, find a way to crowd Him out of their minds with other self-centered thoughts and loves. It must break his heart for us to lose track of his name and his amazing value to our lives.
It is not likely that we forget him on purpose. We seldom just decide one day, “I’m going to stop thinking about God. I’m going to simply forget him and all he has done for me.” What happens is that we begin to fill our minds with things foreign to him until he just gets flushed from our memories.
Amazingly, God never forgets us. He never forgets his promises or his covenants with us. But, you can imagine how much it hurts him when we forget him.
However, when we remember him and his precepts (i.e. teachings, law, instruction etc…) he is honored and gives us life. Psalm 119:93 says, “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.”
As a nation, it is a shame if we forget the men and women who have defended our nation and our personal freedom. For many, Memorial Day is just another day for a barbeque, a day to do our own thing. But, it was designed to be a day to remember passionately those patriots who gave it all. Many died in war. Some were wounded (some permanently) physically, mentally, emotionally and other ways because they cared about the principles upon which our great democratic republic was founded. It is also a time to thank God for our freedom and for all who have laid their lives on the line for us, whether in the military, police force, fire departments, ambulance service, or even in the federal, state and otherwise security agencies such as the FBI, CIA, NSA, HSA and others. We should also remember the sacrifice of the spouses and family members who lost loved ones serving our country, and/or who had to keep the home fires burning while their loved ones served in dangerous situations.
We should never forget and thus dishonor their memories and their service. Let us set aside this Memorial Day weekend to lift up God and to lift up all who gave so much for us.
This Sunday the FCC family will celebrate these memories with a special Memorial Day emphasis. We will worship God and thank him for these very special Americans. There will be special music, worship music, prayers and a message titled, I WILL NEVER FORGET based on Psalm 119:89-96 will be included. Above all, we will remember the sacrifice of His life that Jesus gave for us on the cross.
Remembering the memorable,
Jon
Remembered or Forgotten
A man was walking down the street hand in hand with his wife. He saw an old friend walking toward them. As the two grew nearer, the man began struggling to recall the old friend’s name. He pondered and strained his brain for remembrance. At the moment they met the name flooded into his mind. In great relief he reached out and shook the hand of his old friend. He turned to his wife and said, “Honey, this is my very old friend George! George, this is my wife, uh, uh, uh.” He had forgotten her name.
To be remembered is a great honor. To be forgotten is a tragic disgrace.
When you look through Scripture, one of the most tragic lines is…They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, (Psalm 106:21). Similar words are found in Deuteronomy 32:18, Judges 3:7, 1 Samuel 12:9, Psalm 44:20, Isaiah 17:10, Jeremiah 3:21, Jeremiah 13:25. The greatest insult to God is when the people he created, loved, sacrificed his only Son to save, and to whom he offered underserved forgiveness, find a way to crowd Him out of their minds with other self-centered thoughts and loves. It must break his heart for us to lose track of his name and his amazing value to our lives.
It is not likely that we forget him on purpose. We seldom just decide one day, “I’m going to stop thinking about God. I’m going to simply forget him and all he has done for me.” What happens is that we begin to fill our minds with things foreign to him until he just gets flushed from our memories.
Amazingly, God never forgets us. He never forgets his promises or his covenants with us. But, you can imagine how much it hurts him when we forget him.
However, when we remember him and his precepts (i.e. teachings, law, instruction etc…) he is honored and gives us life. Psalm 119:93 says, “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.”
As a nation, it is a shame if we forget the men and women who have defended our nation and our personal freedom. For many, Memorial Day is just another day for a barbeque, a day to do our own thing. But, it was designed to be a day to remember passionately those patriots who gave it all. Many died in war. Some were wounded (some permanently) physically, mentally, emotionally and other ways because they cared about the principles upon which our great democratic republic was founded. It is also a time to thank God for our freedom and for all who have laid their lives on the line for us, whether in the military, police force, fire departments, ambulance service, or even in the federal, state and otherwise security agencies such as the FBI, CIA, NSA, HSA and others. We should also remember the sacrifice of the spouses and family members who lost loved ones serving our country, and/or who had to keep the home fires burning while their loved ones served in dangerous situations.
We should never forget and thus dishonor their memories and their service. Let us set aside this Memorial Day weekend to lift up God and to lift up all who gave so much for us.
This Sunday the FCC family will celebrate these memories with a special Memorial Day emphasis. We will worship God and thank him for these very special Americans. There will be special music, worship music, prayers and a message titled, I WILL NEVER FORGET based on Psalm 119:89-96 will be included. Above all, we will remember the sacrifice of His life that Jesus gave for us on the cross.
Remembering the memorable,
Jon
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