This biblical injunction to the Israelites from God is highly important because of what God decides to do in their lives.
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.- Isaiah 43:18
The reason for the idea of forgetting the things of the past is stipulated in verse 19 of the same Isaiah 43.
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and water in the desert.
The sour relationship between Israel and God in the past made them witnessed the wrath of God. They were being punished because of their attitudes to their God. But here comes a God who chastises and embraces his children. He declared that the day and time of their suffering were over and explained what he had decided to do provided they can meet the condition. And the condition is THEY MUST FORGET THE THINGS OF THE PAST.
God desires that the bad and ugly memories of the past be removed from their minds because; he is ready to do a new thing. A brief allusion to the characteristics of the past will reveal how important the injunction of God is to Israel.
ONE, it is capable of spoiling the present and future times. Somebody had earlier said “it is not a mistake to make a mistake, but it is the greatest mistake to repeat a mistake”. The only key that this requires is being focused. Abraham made a mistake by sleeping with Haggar despite all promises God made to him, yet he was still expectant of the promise of God after he (God) had told him that Ishmael was not child he promised. Determination can help to wipe away the bad memory of past events. Prophet Micah made those who care to listen realize that for the fact that he fell does not mean it is over.
Rejoice not against me o mine enemy, when I fall, I shall rise again, when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me – Micah 7:8
Your past mistakes have no power to pull you down if you do not allow them to do so. For the fact that you were once a prostitute does not mean that you can’t get a good husband again, and it does not indicate that you can’t be useful for God. All that you need do is to confess your past mistakes and start a new life. The prodigal son forgot his past mistakes and decided to start a life afresh.
You have been disappointed in the past does not mean that you can’t be appointed for success again. Do you know that, despite the fact that your womb has been removed does not indicate that you can’t be pregnant again? At this juncture, your faith is needed.
TWO, your past mistakes have power to affect our spiritual and prayer life negatively. Note that the devil has the sharp memories of people’s mistakes and presents it anytime they intend to pray. The devil knows that god abhors misdeeds and they are major hindrances to prayers. But the consciousness of Jesus on the cross of Calvary and the acceptability of the fact the death of Jesus Christ has wiped away our precious sins and mistakes is enough for every believer to overcome the antics of the devil.
The admonition of Paul the apostle to the church in Corinth has settled the matter of servitude in one’s old mistakes or previous precarious life.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold all things are become new – II Corinthians 5:17.
Prophet Jeremiah was swift in delivering the message of Yahweh to his people in contrast to what they have been passing through since they creed.
Thus saith the lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus says the lord; refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and they shall come again from the land of their enemies. And there is hope in thine end saith the Lord that thy children shall come again from the land of the enemy –Jer. 31:15-17.
In fact, all you need is to acknowledge your past and don’t dwell there anymore. Ezra teaches that even when all hope seems lost, God is continually at work behind the scene of history, after Ezra had prayed, fasted and confessed the sins of Israel, it took the revelation of shechaniah the son of Jehiel to answer Ezra on Israel’s home that it was not over. Though after this revelation, they took a necessary step.
And shechaniah the son of jehiel, one of the sons of Elam answered and said unto Ezra, we have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. Now, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all this wives and such as are born…Ezra 10:2-3.
Those who live in their past may have the risk if selling their future glory to their past and no better changes may be evident in their lives. God himself in the time past forgot the past and started things afresh. God is of the view that, though children used to bear the curses of their father but, a new dispensation came when God said, it is over for such. Whosoever sins shall bear his or her punishment. Past mistakes will always surface to counter the present progress one is making, but determination to live in the present will help to achieve God’s purpose for our lives.