Since my Sunday School years, I
have been taught to memorize Bible verses.
Memorize this one for when you’re
feeling lonely. Memorize that one for
when you need encouragement. This one’s
to remind you where you came from; that one’s to remind you where you’re going.
Stay strong – stay in the Word! Hold
God’s words dear to your heart; house them deep inside and he will never leave
you. If you’re ever in prison you can
count on these words to carry you through.
Haven’t you ever heard the stories of the persecuted hanging onto
Scripture as if their very lives depended on it?
Because they did. And yours does too. Quick!
Memorize before you’re in a situation where all you have to subsist on
is your memory of the Bible! What, you
haven’t memorized any Bible verses?
What kind of Christian doesn’t
memorize Scripture?
All you have to do is
meditate. Sit with God’s word for a few
minutes or hours. Eventually it will
become part of your soul and when you are prompted, you will be amaze everyone
with your steel-trap of a mind.
Okay. Um, “The Lord Is My Shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures… he
does something something about water – leads me beside the cool streams – and
then he soothes… my… soul? I am walking
through the valley of the death. Okay, that’s
wrong. How about this one: Love God with all your mind and
all your heart and all your soul and every fiber of your being. No.
Not right. How about: I can do
all things through God – no, Christ – who supports me. No, wait.
Strengthens me. Boom.
Got one right. Philippians
4:13. Right? RIGHT?”
Memorization is hard, y’all.
Clearly I’m not a good Christian;
I haven’t taken the time to memorize Scripture.
I can’t even recite the 23rd Psalm, for goodness’ sake. Clearly it’s not in my heart. Clearly I haven’t taken the time to meditate
sufficiently.
That’s true. I have a hard time with meditation. My mind never really focuses on one thing. Memorization used to be easier when I was
younger; now I can’t remember much if it’s not written down, save for song
lyrics to old tunes from the 70s and 80s that
seeped in when I rode
around in my parents’ car every day.
But that’s no excuse. My selfish life gets in the way of me fully
surrendering to God’s word; if I really wanted to I’d let it in. I know I fail in this regard.
The thing is, I still love God.
I have not memorized great portions of his word to be spat out
on command, but I feel like he knows I take what he has to teach me
seriously. But because I haven’t
memorized a significant portion of Scripture, I have the sneaking suspicion
that a major source of my sin is that I don’t really take his word seriously.
That, my friends, is something to
meditate on. And pray about. I recently read that “Only through prayer can
we exchange our independent selfishness for the gracious inner
workings of God.” I am on board with
this statement. So many times have I
caught myself going through the motions of prayer, trying to learn something
meaningful for Bible study or putting on the façade of being a good Christian
so that God, but ultimately other Christians, will be pleased with me. And then I fall down, dramatically. I missed the point.
I’m willing to call out my
imperfections, the places where I could do better. God knows about them, after all. He is the only one to whom that matters.
In the meantime, I have to deal with this memorization
business. I know it says in the Bible that we should memorize and meditate on God’s Word. I
mean, I think it does, right?
*******
OK, this memorization thing? Never worked for me. I mean, I know what's in the Bible. But can I give it to you chapter and verse on command? No. That's the truth.
ReplyDeleteNow, I know more than a few people who can do that and I have to say that several of them may be quoting maniacs, but they aren't exactly the best example of those quotes in action.
So.
Perhaps, like many other things in the Bible, the "memorize" part isn't meant to be taken completely literally, but rather memorize the ideas, the messages, the truths behind the words.
I can get on board with your interpretation of the memorization thing.
DeleteIt's the whole "chapter and verse on command" thing that gives me pause. 'Who are you to tell me what to do?' says my rebellious side.