Memorizing God's Word

   For me, there's never been any doubt that I ought to be memorizing and meditating on God's Word. Obviously, God commands us to hide His Word in our hearts, and mediate on it day and night, but that's WAY easier said, than done. I've been reading a book lately where the people don't have the Word of God in writing. They only have what they've memorized, and it really gets me thinking. If I was suddenly unable to read the written Word of God, how much of the Scripture would I have?

     When I'm completely on my own, trying to memorize, I find that I don't get much done. It seems that no matter how much I preach at myself, and want to do it, it just doesn't happen. But, like the rest of our Christian life, we don't have to do it alone. With the body of Christ to help, we can keep each other accountable.

  How does that look in my life? Well, before I was 19, I was in the Bible Bee. (www.biblebee.org) Some summers, I memorized up to 800 verses, and while I don't still know them all today, some of them have stuck. If you're 7-18, and wanting to memorize more, the Bible Bee is a GREAT tool to motivate you!

  Since I'm too old for the Bible Bee now, I've had a hard time staying consistent in memorizing. Here are a couple of things that have helped me.

Number one - the kitchen marker board. Miriam is very good at putting verses up, and making sure that we learn them. Often, she motivates us with treats like ice cream or something, and sometimes she goes so far as to say, "No supper till you've learned the verse!" It's very effective, and I've learned a LOT of verses this way. 

And number two - A church Bible memory program. Recently, our church has been doing the Scripture Memory Fellowship Bible memory books. We all get to pick our book, and we're assigned someone to quote verses to on Sunday.

When you know someone is going to check in on you EVERY Sunday, and you have to quote them to them, it helps motivate you to learn them!

If you can memorize on your own, without encouragement, go for it, but if you're like most of us, and you need extra encouragement, find something to keep you accountable, and stick to it. The Word of God is a treasure, and we're commanded to memorize, so find something that works for you, and get to it!