Have We Forgotten?

I am struck every one of the dozens of times this phrase or a variation thereof occurs in the Bible, 

And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. 

Because in our world, it is really easy to forget, and hard to remember. 

Desiring God posted a controversial post (https://twitter.com/desiringgod/status/375677866869940224) on Ariel Castro's suicide. But if you call yourself a believer and you aren't convicted by it, you may need to consider not just if you've forgotten, but if you ever really knew. If you knew that you were enslaved to powers of sin and darkness. If you knew you had been deceived. If you knew you needed Jesus to reach down and rescue you because you could never get out alone. 

Parnell writes, "Castro’s suicide calls our cards to the table on who we are. Do we stand at a distance — across the divide as beings fundamentally different than him — looking at this story and saying, “God, thank you that I am not a monster like this man”?

Or do we stop? Do we bow our heads in sincerest sobriety, and pray, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner — capable of crimes the same as this man if my sin went unchecked and unrestrained by your grace”?"

That hit me like a ton of bricks. And drove me straight to repentance. Because I remembered. I remembered that apart from the grace of God I am as depraved as he is; sin is sin. 

I call to mind There Is A Fountain, where we sing, 

"The dying thief rejoiced to see/That fountain in his day/And there may I though vile as he/Wash all my sins away" 

Do we really remember that away from the shadow of the cross, without the cleansing of the blood of Christ, we are vile? 

And All I Have is Christ makes its second appearance on the blog, 

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will.
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross.
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace.

What fools we are if we think anything we do will ever make us good. Our only hope is fully contained in Christ's righteousness and we now live to glory God in Him.