A Cup of Fruitful Forgetfulness

 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came... ⁵¹ Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house." ⁵² And the name of the second he called Ephraim: "For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." Gen 41:50-52 (NKJV) 

Have you ever tried to remember a list of something without writing it down? Chances are, if there were more than four or five things on the list, you were able to remember the first and last item but the items in the middle were probably a  blur and a struggle to remember. In the world of psychology that is called the primacy and recency effect. We place more importance on the first and last things mentioned and then kind of forget or "let go" of the rest.

Joseph was at a point in his life where he decided to forget/let go of some things. He had a troublesome life. He was thrown in a pit by his jealous siblings then sold into slavery by them. He spent roughly 13 years in Egypt, the land of "affliction". During that time he was falsely accused of rape then thrown in prison and nearly forgotten about until his time came to be released into his purpose. With the birth his first son, Manasseh, which means forgetful, Joseph declared he was ready to let go of anger, hurts and sorrows from the past. With his second and last son, Ephraim, which means doubly fruitful, he was declaring he was going to increase and grow even in the land of his affliction. Even though Joseph didn't necessarily like or want to be in the location he was in, he was determined to be fruitful and make the best of if because he had a purpose and destiny to be fulfilled. The first and last things he wanted to remember were forgetfulness and fruitfulness.

As we enter into this new year many people lament the sorrows of the past year and decades. Many had much toil and trouble and seasons of affliction in the last decade. We had terrorist attacks, prolonged wars, financial meltdowns, housing crisis, bitter elections and much more. Yet, with the birth of this first day of this new year , 2015, I encourage each of us to name this day "Manasseh". It's time, my friends, to really let go of past hurts, sorrows, and failures. We must do more than just delete people from our contacts list or "unfriend" them on social networks. We must do more than just say with our mouths "I am letting such and such go". We must actually cleanse our heart and minds of the past things than keep us from being fruitful.
We can then name the next day "Ephraim" and focus on being fruitful regardless of our situation or location. We may not like our physical, spiritual, emotional, financial, etc….location yet we can still be fruitful and multiply and grow and mature just as Joseph did. We may at times feel like we are in a dry and barren land of affliction in our lives. Just know there are many good things that thrive in dry climates. Figs, for example grow best in dry climates. The drier the land the sweeter the fig!

I challenge each of us to set the tone for 2015 by naming the "firstborn" day of this year Manasseh to symbolize the true letting go of past sorrows. Then, name the second day of 2015 Ephraim to symbolize the hope for maturity, increase, and double-portion fruitfulness no matter the situation. We can take it even further by declaring these things on a monthly basis. Before we can be fruitful in our purpose we must be forgetful of our past sorrows. I welcome my Manasseh and I look forward to the birth of Ephraim on tomorrow.

Happy Manasseh Day!