Through The Bible in a Year - April 21, 2026

“I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” – Jeremiah 31:34

These people that God is promising to forgive are the people who turned to golden calves and said, “They brought us out of Egypt.” These are the people God rescued in Israel’s southern kingdom who then turned to idolatry after seeing what happened to their northern relatives. They all turned away from God.

Yet, God says: “But I will cut a new covenant. And by faith—not in the nation, not in the temple, not in physical sacrament, but by an internal committed to Me—I will forgive their sins and remember their iniquities no longer.”

Wait. Forget sin?! How can God be God and forget?

The Hebrew word for “remember” means “call to mind.” God is saying: “I will not call to mind what I know I could countagainst you. I won’t bring it up. I won’t call it out. I won’t remember it. I’ll forgive it.” That’s amazing grace.

Maybe we got a sense of such grace at Morehouse College’s commencement a few years ago. There billionaire Robert Smith announced to graduates: “I’ll pay for all your student loans.” Of course, someone had to have a record of how much was owed. The billionaire could certainly tally the debt. But his wealth was so extensive and his generosity so great that he said, in essence,“You don’t need to worry about it. I will remember it no more.”

Does he have the accounting records? Could he call upon them? Of course. But he’s not going to. He’s not going to make an accounting against each student. That’s his right because he paid everything that was needed to cover the debt.

God says to his people: “You betrayed Me. Your penalty is beyond what you could pay. But I love you. And I choose toforget—by a decision of the will, not the intellect. And I will not call it to mind ever again.”

What we cannot forget in our humanity, God chooses to remember no more in his divinity. The moment of rage. The impulse of lust. The wickedness of heart. God says: “Turn to me. Trust me. I will not call it to mind.” You and I both know He knows. But He has chosen—as an act of divine will and mercy—not to call it to mind for hearts set on Him.

Respond: What can’t you forget? What moment of rage, impulse of lust, wickedness of heart haunts you? What do you keep remembering that you wish you could forget? Today, hear God say: “I will not call it to mind. Don’t let it weigh your heart down anymore. I have chosen to remember no more.”

Prayer: Lord, in my humanity, there are things I can’t forget. Moments of shame, failures I replay endlessly, sins that haunt me. But You say You will remember them no more. Not because Your memory is faulty, but because You’ve chosen by an act of will not to call to your mind my sin. Help me believe that. Help me let go of what You’ve already forgotten. And thank you for not remembering, in Jesus’ name, Amen.