Little three-year-old Ethan looked out at the large audience, then down at the black microphone. It was time to say the Bible verse he had memorized.
“God is love.” He breathed a sigh of relief. Whew! A big job and well done!
It was the Sunday school awards night and the children said verses or sang for the many parents. Serenity, age five, looked down as she avoided the stares of waiting children. Somewhere out there in that sea of faces Mom was watching.
She started: “For God so loved the world...” She paused. Was that the right verse? Another verse popped into her mind. “Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Then she went back to the John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) verse. “That He gave His only forgotten Son.”
Forgotten Son? Is that what the verse says? The next child wasn’t sure, but he picked up the phrase as he recited John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16). “That He gave His only forgotten Son, that whosoever believes...will have everlasting life.”
Josiah was older, and he recited several verses, but he conformed to the previous phrasing. It was again, “His only forgotten Son.”
The Apostle John wrote, “He gave His only begotten Son,” which means He gave His loved and unique Son. Sometimes I think he should have written “forgotten Son,” for that is really the truth of the matter, is it not?
In the hurry and pressures of life, the Lord Jesus is often forgotten. Time for sports, time for pleasure, and we fall further behind as we hurry up-but no time for God’s “forgotten” Son.
Thankfully, God never forgets us. He sent into our world the unique One who was the treasure of His heart, which is what the single Greek word “only-begotten” means. The prophet Isaiah writes, Can a mother forget her ‘nursing baby’? Though she may forget, I [the Lord] will not forget you.
But the Lord is often the “forgotten One” while life pushes us around, so we’re always coming and going and never arriving! Here’s a reminder: Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come.
Do yourself a favor. Stop now, get out your Bible, and start reading in the Gospel of John. Remember that the Lord knows all about you and loves you. In order that you might be saved, He gave as a gift the Son whom you have forgotten.