MEMORIZATION

“I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11, NLT)

On many occasions I have heard people say, “I can’t memorize things…so, I can’t memorize scripture.” But, the Bible is very clear about keeping the word on the tip of our tongue so that we might not sin against God. Memorization is more than a suggestion from God, it is an inherent piece of growing in Christ. He actually says we must do this in order to keep from sinning against Him.

Unless we have some very severe form of mental disability, we memorize things every single day—phone numbers, social security numbers, addresses, the names of all the people in our family, lyrics, movie quotes. So telling God, “I can’t” says “I won’t even try.”

Hiding the word in our heart can be compared to digesting the food we eat to keep us alive. If we simply put the food on the plate in front of us and stare at it, it does not nourish our bodies. Therefore, if we simply open the Bible to a verse of scripture and read it without digesting it, it does not produce the fruit in our lives to help us grow. Sometimes we even go as far as putting the food in our mouth, chew on it, and then spit it back out. This is what it’s like to read a scripture passage and then not memorize it.

We memorize things that are important to us. One of the first ways I learned to memorize scripture as an adult was to find a verse or two that speaks to my life at that moment. Then I write it on a 3x5 index card (or several) and strategically place it where I can see it every day—like on my bathroom mirror.

When we are serious about moving forward in our Christian life, we get serious about reading the word and hiding it in our hearts. That’s what keeps us going when we don’t have a Bible in front of us and we need a word of truth or encouragement to know that God’s promises are true.

Let’s begin to digest all of God’s promises.