I love the fact that God has a poor memory. It makes me feel close to him as I too have a memory that remembers very little from day to day.
If a member of the family wants something done I tell them to write it down in the diary or on a piece of paper and put it in the kitchen. Funny thing is they too have poor memories and they forget to write things down! The constant cry of 'I told you about that weeks ago' is reciprocated with 'Did you put it in the diary?'. The silence is deafening! So I cant really be blamed for not remembering.
God's poor memory however is not about the everyday humdrum things of life but about our sins. By his Grace when we truly say sorry the offending sin is washed away, never to be remembered or brought up again by God.
This is how I would like to live my life. I fail of course as I am rubbish at letting things go. Once the flood gates open everything pours out. All the hurts, the times I have been taken for granted etc. My teenage daughter stops me in mid flow and says 'you are doing it again, bringing up the past, why cant you just stick with the matter in hand and leave it at that'. Of course she is right and I stand corrected. If I am bold enough to tell people to copy God's bad memory, then I ought to as well.
Now I see why others who do not have a faith look at those who do and say 'hypocrite'. My own daughter has called me this at times, and she is right. If I profess that forgiving is putting on God's poor memory, then I need to do and not just say it. If my family see that I genuinely forgive and seek forgiveness and leave the 'sin' to that day and not with a 'to be continued...' they are more likely to follow by example.
Jesus was not tame in his words when he spoke of the pharisees and scribes (Matt 15:7-9) as hypocrites. He wants us to be binding in our following of his ways. He wants us be serious and not play with words. He wants us to do His will and not follow our will. If we truly want to bring others to Christ, we need to be Christ like, not me like.
God, the Creator of the Universe, our Awesome Founder, Saviour of sinners, has forgiven our sins daily and forgotten them. He calls us to worship, pursue, praise and thank Him with a grateful heart, to emulate his Mercy and be restored to wholeness. This is my God, who knows my failings, and daily struggles, and loves me nonetheless. Grant me the wisdom of Your poor memory.