How many of you remember the lyrics to your favorite song from high school? Or remember an iconic quote from your favorite book, movie or tv show? Probably a lot of us. When something we see, hear or read makes an impact on us, we are likely to revisit it and remember it.
Now how many of you can remember the Scriptures you memorized growing up? And how long has it been since you committed any Scripture verses to memory?
Maybe you are doing better than me on that front. If you are, give yourself a pat on the back. I mean it.
I would say I know a lot of Scripture in concept. Through my years of Bible study and reading, I know a lot of what the Bible says. I can probably even tell you what book it’s found in. But I have not been good at dedicating time to memorizing specific verses and passages of Scripture.
Why?
Why is Scripture memorization important?
Primarily, because God tells us to. In Deuteronomy 6, God says, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart” (v. 6).
And why does God, in His infinite goodness and wisdom, tell us to remember His words? Because writing God’s word on our hearts equips us to fight the battle against this broken world. It offers hoping and comfort in the hard times. It saturates our hearts with truth so we can discern the lies and temptations of the world and the devil.
How?
I am challenging myself to memorize more Scripture. I have an easy goal to start with: the kids I teach at church on Wednesday night have monthly Bible verses they are learning and I am going to start memorizing with them.
If memorizing Scripture is something you could do more intentionally, then I also challenge you to set yourself a goal. Maybe it’s following a memorization plan; maybe it’s recruiting a memorization buddy; maybe, like me, you’ve already got a built-in avenue to support your goal. At a minimum, I challenge you to commit to memorizing one new verse or passage a month.
Let’s think back to all the lyrics and quotes you’ve got stored in your head. If you are able to commit those to memory, how much more should we be committing the life-changing, breath-giving words of God to our memory?
