I have been reading a book called “Growing Up” by my pastor, Robby Gallaty. It is an excellent book about discipleship. In chapter 8, he writes about how important it is for a Christian to memorize scripture.

I went to a Christian school, k-12th grades. Scripture memorization was at the top of the priority list of all that we learned. Because of the constant reading and repetition of God’s Word through the years, I can still quote many scriptures in the KJV today. I am very thankful.

But as the years have gone by, memorizing scripture has taken a back seat in my life. And I hate that. My brain is certainly not as sharp as it used to be, but that cannot be my excuse. Here’s what Pastor Robby says about the  importance of memorizing scripture.

“When we get to heaven, God is not going to be impressed with how many sports statistics we know by heart, how many television shows we can recall, or how many words of popular songs we can recite. But He will be overjoyed with our efforts to commit His life-changing Word to memory. When we hide His Word in our hearts, we are saying to God, ‘Your Word is important to me.'”

“Even though it is difficult, will you invest the time needed to hide God’s Word in your heart? Will you put aside the computer, the Internet, and television to spend time pondering Scripture?”

Thomas Watson, Puritan pastor and teacher, commented, “The reason we come away so cold from reading the Word is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation.”

Here’s the bottom line:

We make time for the things that are most important to us.

I want to challenge you (and me) to make memorizing scripture a top priority in our lives! Let’s commit to work on memorizing scripture. This week, I am going to do a little mini series each day about memorizing scripture. I am going to share some highlights from Pastor Robby’s book. I will also share some tips on how we can effectively memorize God’s Word.

As always, I want to invite you to please share with me too if you get a chance. I would love to learn any strategies that you use to memorize God’s Word. I definitely need lots of work in this area of my life.

So what verse or verses are you going to work on memorizing this week? I have been working on memorizing some verses in Ephesians.

Want more power in your life? There’s such unbelievable power in the Word of God. But we won’t have that power, unless we read it, know it, and use it!

 

Memorization Tip: Write it down.

Write down the verse or verses you are trying to memorize on index cards. Keep it in your pocket or purse. Pull it out whenever you have a moment, and read it over and over and over again.

 

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