6.15.2010

Join me in Memorizing Scripture!?

One area that I have been feeling so convicted in lately is my Scripture memorization.

Anyone with me?
I intend to do it...really I do! I would love to do it...really I do! Okay I'm busy now so I'll do it later...really I will!

Does this sound like you?

So often I am in a conversation with someone and I'm like "oh yeah...that one verse that talks about the thing with the thing? I think it might be in James? Or maybe Deuteronomy...?"

1 Peter 3:14 says,
"Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you."

2 Timothy 4:2 says,
"Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching".

Read those two verses again {or for the first time if you are like me and skip scripture in blogs sometimes...yeah I do it to!} Isn't that convicting. God calls us to know his word!

And what saddens me is that as a society we have become so used to having a Bible readily available to us at all times. I have countless Bibles at my house and if one is not within arm's reach I can just go to Biblegateway.com and it's right there!!!

Now don't get me wrong. I think this is a wonderful thing. It is truly remarkable the access to the Bible that we have today! But it also makes us complacent. We no longer feel the need to memorize scripture since it's always right in arm's reach.

But it is vital to us that we always be memorizing scripture.

Did you know that in the times of the Old Testament many people had large portions of the Bible memorized including entire books. They did not each have their own Bible and most household didn't even have one to share among the family. Scribes would even memorize the entire Old Testament that they could summon up at a moment's notice!

And yet we struggle to know 20 or 50 verses!!! I don't know about you but this is very convicting!!

John MacArthur writes,
"Repetition expands our capability of recall. Recovering spiritual truth demands repetition and use. The more you hear, think through, and apply spiritual truth the more it begins to dominate your thinking. Eventually you will react involuntarily in the proper spiritual manner to any situation because a particular spiritual principle has become so much a part of you."

He then goes on to say,
"God has designed our physical structure to accommodate our spiritual needs. We have a marvelous capacity for memory. Scriptures is full of reports of how God's prophets were called to tell His people to remember. If I can serve no other purpose than that, I serve the highest purpose of God.First, I want to establish you in the present truth. But second, I need to constantly jog your memory so that you never forget those truths. The more they come to the front of your mind, the more you will find your spiritual responses becoming involuntary because you have become so dominated by the truth of God."


This has been on my heart a lot lately and I have been slow to respond. But I feel the need to memorize scripture growing and I hope you will join me.
 
Look for a post soon about my scripture memorizing plan. I will be doing one new scripture a week this summer and hope that you will join me! I will be making a cute button each week with the scripture on it to post on your blog {or even on your desktop} so you won't forget to meditate on and memorize God's word and hopefully will encourage others to do the same! :) 
 
I am putting together the scripture list now. Let me know if you have any ideas for some good verses or passages that would be beneficial to start memorizing. Check back soon for the start of this!

5 comments:

  1. I've been attempting to memorize verses myself. It helps me to write them over and over again, kind of like a child who gets in trouble at school. LOL! Thanks for sharing this post! Have a wonderful rest of the week!
    In Him,
    Carolina

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  2. G.R.E.A.T. post. One that I really needed to hear too. Was having struggles being around my family this evening, and my hubby asks "now did you invite God into this situation". And I hadn't. I think some scripture that deals w/ my attitude when I'm around fam. would be so helpful to memorize/dwell on before I know I'm going to be around them. He gives us the Sword to fight w/, right? - Now onto your sweet comments about my house. Can I hire you to be my ego-booster?? :-) You are such a dear! My hubby IS a talented artist, I'll give you that much, but if you could see the state of my office right now, I think you'd rescind that whole "should be in a magazine" comment lol! I have to say though, Natalie's tour has been very motivational to spruce things up a bit. Nothing huge, but things I've been putting off. I love motivation! That's why I'm excited about your Scripture memory plan. Will you hold us accountable to it? I'd love that.- This is getting way too long for a comment, so I'd better go! G'night!

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  3. that's awesome! My life group from church has been doing this. it's definitely getting harder as we are getting more verses but it's awesome and i love being able to remember verses!
    and yes, i did have to go back and read those verses for the FIRST time ; )
    THere is a family at our church that does some kind of bible quizzing and their children have the whole book of Acts memorized. I've always thought that was so intense but really cool!

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  4. I L O V E this I am so bad about scripture memorization I'm in!!

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  5. Jami....I am so proud!!! You are such a beautiful young woman of the Lord. Memorizing scripture is so important. God has commanded we keep His word in our hearts. His word brings us life. Memorizing is something I am working on as well. With two babies and a household to run, I can't always get to my bible and spend two hours reading and devouring it...as much as I would like to! Memorizing and meditating on nuggets of His word that I have captured in my heart help me to still sit at the Lord's feet and glean from the wisdom there.

    I cannot wait to see what you come up with. You are such an inspiration to young woman.

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