A Heart To Remember

“My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:” (Pr 3:1 AV)

 

I wonder how much memory and desire are interconnected.  Putting it another way, do we forget because we don’t want to remember?  How much does the desire to remember contribute to remembering?  How much does the heart impact the ability of the mind to retain memories?  If the heart, or desire, does impact how well we recall facts, events, or emotions, then can we increase our ability to remember by changing our attitude towards that which we wish to remember?  Or, is forgetfulness strictly a physical condition of which we can do nothing about?  We know that as we age, memory does slip.  It is a result of an aging brain.  Desire cannot fix this.  We also know even if we desire to remember, there are certain things our brains are not wired to remember.  For me, it is incoherent facts.  If facts do not have an obvious relationship to other facts, then I have a hard time recalling them.  The exception is names.  Short term, I cannot remember names.  But long term, I can. 

As a child, innumerable times my father confront me regarding a rule or principle I had broken.  My excuse was the same as any other child.  “I forgot.”  In fact, there is a rather well-known comedian who has a routine regarding that excuse as a viable one for all faults of adult nature.  Like not paying your taxes.  “I forgot to pay my taxes.”  As though the IRS would let you off on that excuse.  My father would rightly tell us we forgot because we did not care to remember.  To see how one’s heart is tied with one’s memory, all a husband has to do is forget his wedding anniversary and he will get an ear full of how much he doesn’t love his spouse.  From his spouse.  Usually, we remember things that impact us in a negative way.  We remember to register the car because we face a ticket if we do not.  We remember to take the roast out of the oven because it will burn if we do not.  We remember our wife’s birthday because if we don’t, she will be very mad.  However, the things that could benefit us in more subtle ways we tend to forget.  This is Solomon’s admonition here.  Remember the commandments.  But you cannot unless you desire to remember them.

We do our devotions every day.  The LORD blesses by the voice of the Spirit as He instructs us in the truths of God’s word.  We learn principles that will help us in our daily lives.  We are rebuked when we need it.  We are enlightened when the Spirit determines we need more light.  All this work is not for naught.  Each and every day the LORD shares something we need to hear afresh.  Or, He shares something anew.  These truths are meant to be committed to memory.  However, they will not be unless we have a desire for them to be.  Reading, meditating, and journaling is not the end of one’s devotions.  Perhaps, when we are done communing with God, we should jot down the verse of the day and revisit it throughout the day.  Maybe instead of a few minutes of meditation, we should give the voice of God place for the whole day.  If we do not remember the truths from one day to the next, it is because we have no heart for it.  If we have a heart for it, we will remember it.  Barring any physical barrier to memory, what we desire is what we remember.