A factory worker approached his supervisor at the end of the day looking confused. "How do I turn off my machine?" he asked. "You don't remember?" his boss asked. "No," the employee said. "In fact, I'm not sure where I am and what I'm doing here." The concerned supervisor sent him to a doctor. The diagnosis? Amnesia.

This situation has a spiritual parallel in Isaiah 44. God's people Israel apparently had forgotten who they were, for whom they worked (v.21), where they had come from (v.24), and how much the Lord had done for them (v.22). They needed to be reminded that it is foolish to depend on anything made by human hands (vv.9-20), and that the Lord alone is able to control the course of human events (vv.24-25).

What could be worse for us today than forgetting that we belong to Christ, that He has bought us with His own blood, that He knows how we should live, and that He is the One who is in control of all the circumstances of our lives? Let's check ourselves. Maybe we, like ancient Israel, have had a lapse of memory. If so, let's forsake our sin, return to the Lord, and remember who we are and why we are here.

Spiritual amnesia is a dangerous condition, but it can be reversed.  — Mart De Haan