You should just write things down when you hear them or you may lose them forever.

… I know some of you are thinking that you have great memories and don’t have to write things down to recall them later. But it is true that when you get older your memory fails at times. 

Writing things down makes up for the reduced functioning of our older brain cells.

Even younger people with good minds at times can’t keep track of all the things they need to do. That’s why we have to-do lists and to-do apps.

Sometimes there is just so much to keep track of that our brains can’t juggle all those balls without dropping one or two of them. And if you’ve ever seen a juggling act, when the juggler loses one or two balls, all the balls go flying.

For me I have a running to-do list – actually I have an app that contains many things I have to do on a repeated schedule.

I can look at the app and see the things I have before me. I can also add to that to-do list and it can keep me focussed on accomplishing the things I want … without having to rack my brain to remember what else was on my mental list for the day.

However, there have been times – and we’ve all had them – when we forget to do something because it didn’t make it to the list.

There have been times when I’ve been late paying a bill because I forgot to give Lily the invoice. I thought I could remember to do it later in the day but I forgot and then it was gone from my memory. 

Before I started writing things down, I would sometimes forget promises I made. 

One time a guy came into the church looking for some food. I told him I had to go out at noon, would pick up a grocery store gift card then, and he should come back later in the afternoon.

Well, I forgot to write it down and when he showed up, I had no card. I drove him to the grocery store right then and got him a card. 

Now I write things down so I’m not caught in that situation again. 

But the other day something happened and Lily said to me, “That’s a great blog idea.” 

I thought, “Ya, I could write a blog about that.” 

Well, I didn’t write the idea down; I thought I could remember it. But three days later, I’m writing a blog post about not writing things down.

I can’t remember what that idea was. And Lil? She can’t remember either. 

She even washed her hands of it. She said “I mentioned it to you because I knew I would forget about it. And once I told you, I let it go from my mind.” 

It was a really good blog idea, but it is gone forever. You all are missing out on a good one.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes you can read a verse in the Bible that really speaks to you. It was like it was there just for you, at that precise time. Don’t trust your memory to remember that important word from God. Write it down, record what God said to you, so you can recall it later and benefit from it again and again. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to write down right now before you forget? Leave your comments and questions below.

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