Weekly Devoation - "MEMORIZE THE WORD" - Nov 22, 2010

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

MEMORIZE THE WORD

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

Two questions:

1. Do you believe that memorizing Scripture is important?
2. Do you regularly memorize Scripture?

For more years than I’d like to admit, my answers to those questions conflicted with one another. Yes! Scripture memorization is important! But, do I do it? Well . . . I know the theme verses we’ve studied at GEMS over the years, and Psalm 23, but faithfully memorizing large chunks of God’s Word? Not so much. Rick Warren said, “You only believe the part of the Bible that you actually do.”

A missionary visited our congregation and invited us to join brothers and sisters from North America to Central Asia to be part of The Psalms Project. It’s a seven-year commitment to memorize the Psalms. Year one includes putting 21 Psalms to memory. I signed up, knowing I needed accountability in a spiritual discipline I had sorely neglected. It’s been hard work with rich rewards. My lone regret is that I didn’t do this sooner.

Why should we memorize Scripture? There are many reasons. Here are three:

1. To know God. In the field of education, professionals tell us that we retain 10% of what we hear, 25% of what we read, 50% of what we study, and 80% of what we memorize. Let’s translate that to knowledge of God. Ten percent of what we know about God will come through what we hear (sermons, seminars, and schooling), 25% through what we read in the Word, 50% through studying the Word, and 80% by memorizing the Word! Do you want to know God more? Then memorize His Word!
2. To triumph over sin. How can a young man [this applies to young women at heart, too!] keep his [her] way pure? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (Psalm 119:9, 11). When we memorize Scripture the Holy Spirit has quick and immediate access to the Word that gives clear direction to His commands and equips us to stand firm in Christ.
3. To imitate Christ. As Christ’s disciples our deepest desire must be to follow Him and to incorporate His actions and words into our lives. To imitate Him, we must abide and remain in Him and His words must abide and remain in us (John 15:7).

PASSION Step: Choose a passage of Scripture that you will memorize before January 1, 2011. Begin memorizing today.

Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what it needs. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That’s where you need it! How does it get in your mouth? Memorization.

Dallas Willard