Spiritual Amnesia
"We all forget things sometimes," reports CBS news. 'It can even be funny, up to a point. But memory loss is often serious, [as] in the case of one rare form of memory loss - amnesia - sudden."
Can you imagine forgetting who you are?
One September day in 2001, a 33-year-old Texas woman named Norene got into her car to go to work. As she tells it ... “There's a freeway here in Dallas and I began driving up the freeway, and I got as far as Denton, Texas, but I didn’t know where I was.”
The next thing she remembers is waking up in a hotel room in an unknown city, without friends or family. She had no idea how she got there.
Norene explains, “When I woke up the next morning, I sat up and I didn't recognize the room. I didn't recognize the purse that was sitting on the floor, or the clothes that were lying over the chair. I didn't recognize myself in the mirror. I didn’t even know my name.”
This type of amnesia is very rare and comes on suddenly. It can last for hours or even months and affects only two-tenths of a percent of the population.
With Norene, it took her more than a year to recover her memory.
She explains, “You know, I lost 33 years, and I had to slowly regain that back. And it is precious to me. And I've done as much as I can and everything I can to build on that."
Perhaps there was a time when you were growing in Christ, and then something changed—the pressures of your job, marriage, or family overtook you. Maybe your health started to deteriorate. The next thing you know, you experience spiritual amnesia. You have forgotten all you know about resting and trusting in Jesus. You've forgotten what it means to cast all your burdens on him. You have forgotten his manifold promises.
You’ve forgotten who you are in Christ!
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5, NIV).
"But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?" (Galatians 4:9, ESV).
"And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory" (Romans 8:17, NLT).
Subtle Killer
Every year between 60,000 and 200,000 people will die from a medical condition known as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). Usually the DVT occurs in a person's legs where blood has pooled, allowing a blood clot to form. Once formed, the danger is that the clot might circulate to the lungs or brain where it can cause respiratory failure or a stroke.
The tragic thing about DVT's is that they are not caused by irresponsible behavior, but by simply being inactive. Simply sitting or laying down too long is all it takes for one of these clots to form.
There are sins of commission and then there are sins of omission. When we blatantly do those things that God forbids, we expect that there might be serious consequences. But, because sins of omission are so subtle, we tend to think of them as more benign. Nevertheless, sometimes it's the person who lays around and does nothing who faces the gravest danger.
"So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16).
Illustration Exchange
Too Busy Being Lucky
Sometimes I am so busy being lucky that I forget to be blessed.
There is so much of life that I simply take for granted. It takes time and effort to stop and be thankful for the many blessings we all enjoy everyday. Don't just be fortunate, be blessed by acknowledging God's goodness in all things.
"Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever" (Psalm 145:2).
Mitchell W. Dillon, founder of Illustration Exchange