Memorizing God’s Word

Psalm 119:9-11 says,

“How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.”

When I was about 10 years old my parents started buying me a new Bible every year. There was just one catch, I had to earn it by memorizing Scripture all year round. We kept that up for two or three years, and it was very helpful. I learned to make Scripture memorization a habit. But then about a year ago my Sunday school class was given the assignment to memorize a catechism. It was sort of fun for a while, and even after it lost it’s enjoyment I continued to work on it. I thought it would be good to memorize what the Bible teaches. There was benefit to it. I did learn more about what the Bible teaches, but about a week ago I realized there was one really big problem with this plan: I’ve been so busy memorizing the catechism that I haven’t spent any time memorizing God’s Word.

Memorizing God’s Word is so important. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” If God’s Word is profitable and equips us to glorify God, then we should not only read it, but also commit it to memory. According to Psalm 119:11 knowing God’s Word helps us to avoid sin. Romans 10:17 teaches us that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” If we want to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ, we must know what He says. If faith comes by hearing God’s Word, then we must be able to share God’s word if we want God to use us to bring people to Himself. When I share the gospel with someone, it’s amazing how the Holy Spirit brings just the right verse to memory in each situation.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to share a couple of things that have helped me memorize God’s Word. You may prefer to memorize differently, these are just some things that have helped me personally.

- Set an achievable goal. This past year while memorizing the catechism I was reminded how discouraging it can be to work and work with no end in sight. At the same time, if I don’t set a goal for myself, I tend to keep putting it off and telling myself “I’ll get around to it one of these days.”

- Read the verses several times a day. Right now I’m memorizing the first chapter of John’s Gospel, so I’ve been carrying a little New Testament around with me and reading it in the car or while I’m standing in line. It’s really helped me to memorize the passage more easily.

- Don’t forget to review. It’s really discouraging to get to the end of the passage and then discover you’ve forgotten the first portion!

- Find a study buddy. It’s amazing how much help a friend can be. Besides, when we’re accountable to someone it makes it a whole lot harder to just give up when we’re having a hard time.

I find it helpful to remember that God just wants us to do our best, not someone else’s best. Every year at camp a big deal is made about memorizing verses. And there are always a few of those amazing people who can memorize the entire book in 24 hours! I don’t know how they do that, but I can’t come anywhere near their accomplishments. That’s okay. God doesn’t expect me to do as well as they do, He just expects me to do my best for Him.

An Opportunity to Serve

Some of you may have noticed, I haven’t had a lot of extra time for writing recently. This is mostly due to the fact that I have joined a group called Soldier’s Angels. I believe Soldier’s Angels, and organizations like it provide a wonderful ministry opportunity. Of course, what our soldiers need most is prayer, but if you’d like to do more, here are some ways you can help.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Soldier’s Angels, let me tell you a little bit about the organization. Soldier’s Angels’ motto is “May no soldier go unloved”, and this is accomplished through an adoption program. Each “angel” is assigned one soldier, and we send letters and care packages to our adopted soldier on a regular basis. Our goal is to let the soldiers know how much we appreciate their sacrifice by helping to send them little reminders of home. Each “angel” is also assigned a mentor who will help them figure out how to best minister to their soldier. I believe it is a wonderful way to support our troops.

For people who can’t commit to regularly sending letters and packages there are several organizations that provide wonderful alternatives. If you’d like to help make our Soldier’s Christmas a bit more enjoyable, Soldier’s Angels has a program called Holidays for Heroes. If you’d like to help out more than just once a year you could look into helping donate to Hero Packs or Operation Phone Home. Operation Gratitude also provides the opportunity to let our soldiers know how much we appreciate their service.

There are many different ways to show the love of Christ to others, this is just one of them. If this is something you believe God wants you to do, that’s wonderful, but I don’t want to in any way suggest that this is the way everyone must do it. I believe this is one way I can serve God, and I’m excited about it, I want to share it with y’all, but that’s all. How you serve God may be totally different. What’s important is that we all glorify God and serve Him in whatever way He desires us to.