An elderly couple, Frank and Francine, noticed they seemed to be getting more forgetful. Concerned that this could become dangerous, say if they forgot to turn the stove off when leaving home, they mentioned it to the family doctor.
The doctor wasn’t overly concerned, chalking it up to normal, age-related memory lapses, but he did offer some advice. He said many people find it helpful to simply write notes to themselves as reminders.
Frank and Francine thought this was wonderful advice and decided to start taking notes about everything immediately.
Soon, though, Frank found the whole exercise tiresome, deciding it was too tedious to write everything down.
One evening as Frank rose to go in the kitchen, Francine asked if he would bring her a dish of ice cream. “Sure, honey,” Frank replied.
“Um, you may want to write that down, so you don’t forget,” Francine offered.
“I think I can remember a dish of ice cream,” Frank countered.
“And we have some fresh strawberries in the fridge. I’d love some strawberries on top,” Francine continued, adding, “And really, Frank, I do think you should write this down?”
“Ice cream and strawberries—I’ve got it,” Frank answered a bit briskly.
“Oh, and we have whipped cream, too. Would you mind putting whipped cream on top?” asked Francine, adding still again, “And really, Frank, I do think it would be best you write all this down.”
Annoyed, Frank snapped, “Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream, what’s to remember?” as he stomped out of the room.
A few moments later, Francine hears the sounds of pots and pans banging around in the kitchen. About 15 minutes later Frank returns and presents his wife with a beautiful plate of bacon and eggs.
Francine lovingly looked up at Frank, let out a sigh, and said, “I just knew this would happen if you didn’t write everything down. I just KNEW you’d forget the toast.”
Well, a funny story that I think we all relate to—maybe not to this extent—but who hasn’t misplaced their keys or walked into a room only to forget what they came in there for?
It’s usually not too serious when we misplace our keys or can’t find our glasses—and by the way, when you can’t find your glasses, try looking on top your head, that’s where MINE usually are—but much more serious is when we forget God’s eternal word and truths.
It makes me think of how often we do see various teachings, sometimes almost whole passages, repeated in scripture.
We see Jesus saying, “Again I say unto you,” and then repeat a teaching or maybe reinforce the same teaching with a different parable.
We see phrases like, “think on” and “meditate on” throughout scripture, such as 1 Timothy 4:15, where we read we are to, “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.”
And the Bible even tells us why these teachings are repeated and reinforced. We read in Philippians 3:1, “To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.”
Think about the tune to Happy Birthday for a moment. We all know the song—and why? Because we’ve all heard it a million times!
How much more important is it to know the truths of scripture than the tune of Happy Birthday?
So, let’s remember, it is for our good and safety these things are written down, sometimes again and again. They’re written for a purpose, as we read in John 20:31, “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”