Sometimes I Forget

You know how the Bible says we're all different parts of the body and have different skills, talents and responsibilities? I've been told that I must be the big mouth. Ha Ha, not very funny....maybe true, but not very funny. Well, it strikes me that we all have a past that enables us to better use the gifts we have been given. For a long time, that didn't occur to me. I tried to block the memories of what I used to be until I found that my past actually helps me relate to the people around me. I know, it seems like common sense to a lot of you, but I'm a little slow on the uptake. Sometimes, I just forget.

Sometimes I find that I forgot
what put me in that place;
the honkytonks and rowdy rides
that lead to my disgrace.
Then, just like on that C.S.I.
a flashlight casts its beam
around my mind until it finds
a memory I’d not seen
or thought about for many years;
the folly of my youth.
The worldly haze and spiteful days
spent running from the truth.
Santana sang of evil ways
and that you had to change.
I’d sing along, like nothing’s wrong
while riding Satan’s range.
And then I see what blinded me
and kept me from the light.
I recognize that blood-shot eyes
had blurred what was my plight.

Sometimes I find that I forgot
just how I left that place.
I did not do it by myself,
it took Amazing Grace.
I marvel at how God saved me
and know I represent
the transformation God intends
for all who will repent.
When I accepted Jesus Christ
the things I valued most
became far less important
than the Holy Lord of Hosts.
Eternal life began right then
despite the devil’s rush
to keep me sinking deeper
in my mire of mental mush.
So I slog on thru the quagmire
on my way to higher ground
where I know the Rock of Ages
and God’s Glory will be found.

God tells me I should not forget
the reason for my past;
how He allowed my worldliness
until the time, at last,
was right for me to turn around.
And now I can relate
to those who run from righteousness.
Show them their sorry state
can be replaced with love and life
like God has done for me.
The Truth is that it’s not too late
to start life eternally.

Jeff Hildebrandt © 2010