Isaiah 65:17 has always been terrifying and puzzling to me. It reads:

“i create a new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.”

Though it terrifies me (which i’ll explain shortly) I am also thankful for it. I think of the minor trials I have experienced. I think of family and friends I have lost that did not know Christ. Even those closest to me. This passage is clear. There will come a point in God’s new Heavenly kingdom that I will never think about these loved lost souls again. In God’s eternal kingdom such thoughts and grief shall be forever wiped away from the minds of the saints.

I wonder, how could I forget those from my past who loved me and were part of molding me, yet they did not know Christ? And how awful for them it will be. They will remember the past. Yet during their eternal torment, they will know that I will not give them a moment’s thought for all of eternity, for none of those never ending years.

I once wrote for a story of mine a bit of wisdom which says that in the future, though we may forget the past, there is one, unceasing, who will always grieve for the lost who refused to be saved. Is it not God himself? Do not the scriptures say that he can never forget those for whom he died?

I thank God for the mercy of forgetfulness. I only wish I could share it with him.