Forget or forgive?

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.
 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
    and in whose spirit there is no deceit.  Psalm 32:1-2 (ESV)

I did it, again.  We had a warm spell and I sent our cat outside for some fresh air.  Then, I promptly forgot her.  Several hours later I let her back in and she instantly forgave me.  She was so excited to be back in the house, to be warm, and to fed that she licked my face clean with appreciation.  She even followed me around, sat in my lap, and purred.  She rarely sits in my lap.  

Her reaction reminded me of a story from THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER when Rabbit tries to predict a reaction from Tigger:

“Because he’ll be a Humble Tigger.  Because he’ll be a Sad Tigger a Melancholy Tigger, a Small and Sorry Tigger, an Oh-Rabbit-I-am-glad-to-see you Tigger.”  (A.A. Milne)

She forgot I was the one who let her out for so long.  She only knew she was glad to be let in.

We moved Paul’s mother Dorris into a memory care facility last week.  It took only half a day, but it was a busy day.  She and I sorted through her clothes to winnow things down to a more manageable- easier to pick something to wear- number.  We got her into her new room in time to eat lunch with new neighbors and left her hoping she would settle into a nap. 

 

By 7:00pm that evening, she called me over to her new residence.  She could not settle down because nothing seemed familiar.  She did not know anyone, and was convinced no one knew her.  When I got past the locked door and came into her view she came at me so fast I thought she would fall over from pure momentum.  She greeted me with:

 “I am so glad to see you!”   

She followed me around.  Then she gave me a hug; she rarely gives hugs.

We found an employee and discovered that this kind person did indeed know who Dorris was.  We walked to her room and I let her talk and wind down while one-by-one I turned out the lights.  It seemed vaguely familiar to the procedure for calming my daughter towards sleepiness when she was younger. 

I could not give Dorris what she wanted: her home, her memory, or even a familiar place.  I was one of four people who had created this misery by moving her for the third time in a little over a year.  Nothing made sense; not even my calm resolute responses to her complaints.

Yet, she was glad to see me. 

We have a Heavenly Father who never forgets.  He never forgets who or where we are.  He never forgets our needs.  He never forgets to bless us.  He never even forgets the number of hairs on our heads.

Yet, He willingly forgets our sin. 

We sin against Him, against our neighbor, and against our better interests and God forgives us and welcomes us with open arms.  He sets aside His omniscience, His perfect and complete knowledge of everything, in order to look at us with love and grace. 

We did not just accidentally leave God locked out of the house, or even move him to an unfamiliar place.  Instead, we killed His Son.

And because of the death and resurrection of His Son, God is glad to see us as His perfect children. 

He is glad to see us.  He is glad to see us, every day. 

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
 who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases, Psalm 103:1-5 (ESV)

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1: 11-14 (ESV)