“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” — Psalm 119:11
Over the last few months, I’ve helped my kids memorize the Ten Commandments and the Apostles’ Creed. I tried to mix it up so it wasn’t mechanical and repetitive; I wanted to make it fun for them. I’ve been amazed by how quickly and easily they’ve memorized both of them! It was a testament to how much the human mind can absorb (and retain) when we have the goal of memorizing. In fact, I know people who have memorized whole chapters (and even books) of the Bible! They read it out loud over and over. They remember little bits at a time until they reach their goal.
Recently, my daughter told me a story about David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary and explorer. When he was just nine years old, he recited ALL of Psalm 119 (the longest chapter in the Bible) to his father. He only made five mistakes! Whatever the material, memorizing little, bite-sized pieces eventually leads to memorizing impressive amounts. This is true not only with Bible verses, but also with music, acting, public speaking and many other things.
Let’s Store His Word
What could you focus on memorizing? What are you challenging yourself to learn? Maybe it’s a process or repetitive task at work? Maybe it’s poetry or lyrics to a song? My co-worker recently decided he was going to memorize all of the countries and islands in the world. He has been working on it for less than two weeks and is now able to identify more than 210 countries and islands in under 20 minutes.
It’s truly astonishing all we can store (and recall) in the three-pound piece of meat between our ears. In view of that, why not be more intentional in storing up God’s Word in there? Undeniably, there are so many Bible verses that could help us in our daily lives… if we just spent a little time trying to memorize them.
Let’s follow King David’s lead and store up God’s Word in our hearts. Not only will it help us to not sin against God, it will also be a kind and honest friend in times of doubt and trouble.
Trying to remember it,
Posted in A Word from the Pastor