Have any of you attempted to memorize anything lately? I remember learning the alphabet, listing the letters in a song, and filling my brain with multiplication tables using flash cards. I have silly commercials from the 1960′ still taking up space in my memory bank, reminding how to spell Jell-O and what carpet company to call.
Why is it so difficult to memorize scripture, and why is so important? Are you like me? As I age my mind is not as pliable as it was forty years ago. Sometimes it seems as if I have Pam sprayed all over my gray matter. Everything I try to get in there and stay in there slides right out.
Moody Radio, 90.1 FM, has awakened in me a renewed interest in scripture memory. “Summer of 10” is the name of the scripture memory campaign. Ten scriptures for ten weeks of Summer.
I admit that I am part of the few surviving dinosaurs that experience a feeling of safety by using paper rather than depending on tech. So, for this challenge, I used old-fashioned index cards to scribble down each of the ten verses. Some of you may remember when our mothers and grandmothers would write their favorite recipe on a 3×5 perfectly lined index card. I still have tons of yummy handwritten instructions collecting dust in my pantry. Maybe someday I will give them the attention they deserve. We know that all those words written with love will not carry us through the rough territory of life. No amount of sugar and cinnamon can empower us to love the unlovable, return kindness for selfishness or hope when things appear hopeless.
These had written scripture verses written on cards have been following me all Summer, calling out to read me, study me, remember me. Diving into these tasty morsels of scripture has reminded me, again, of the power of God’s word. When I read a passage over many times, and am able to place it on the desktop of my mind, I am changed.
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are about the earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-21.
Paul calls the word of God the “sword of the Spirit.” Ephesians 6:17
Jesus said, “It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Mathew 4:4
Psalms 1:1-11
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-whatever he does prospers.
There are many more scriptures that communicate the necessity of remembering what God taught us. Memorizing, meditating, and abiding in God’s word will change the thinking patterns that have bored their way into our hearts and minds. Those thought tapes have lied to us about who we are as God’s children and how others, yes all others, are made in the image of Christ and have unimaginable value.
During my Summer of memorizing, I have been reminded that God is glorified by the fruit that his children bear through the power of Christ.
It is no longer live, but it is Christ who lives in me. To bear fruit I must abide in the vine who is Christ Jesus.
What do you think? Interested?
PS: I got stuck trying to create a hyperlink for the ten scriptures. Rather than wait until the snow falls, I thought I would just post them on another blog. Have fun with this, and see what our great God can do with His words papered over you heart and mind.
Thank you for your patience!
Karen
A very humble servant.
I also want to get back to memorizing verses. It requires discipline and commitment. However it is so helpful when just at the right time a verse comes into your heart. Recently I’ve seen God bring me back to Matthew 6 to remind me that he takes care of his children and that I don’t need to worry about my daughter in college as she faces various challenges. He will provide. He is with her. He is for her. He loves her a lot more than I do and his plans are for good.