Today, as I was milking my goats, I did what I often do. I turned my favorite game on to play as I finished out each goat. (Finishing only takes one hand!)
As I was
turning the game on, I had a small argument with myself. I know I would
spend more time reviewing my memorized verses if I quit playing that
game. But the game is fun, and relaxing, and satisfying. There is
some value to it, especially for a person like me who is always on
the go, trying to accomplish things. I felt peace about playing the
game in these few minutes of time, even though I do want to also get
on top of all of my previously memorized verses so I can say them
perfectly, always. (See what I mean about lofty goals?)
Well,
the game wouldn't turn on, because the wi-fi wasn't reaching the
barn. So, I turned on my Bible memory app, which doesn't require
wi-fi. And had a new idea – From here on out, maybe I should discipline
myself to say 10 passages correctly before going on to my game.
So,
I did 10, and then another to make it an even 40 in the "known"
column.
When reviewing verses, I only hit a few perfectly, so
I probably went through 30 or more passages to get those 11 out
perfectly. And in going through all of that scripture, the Lord
reminded me of a few things I had forgotten. As a result of those
sweet reminders, my heart was softened, and quite a bit of prayer was
also offered from that stool in my little goat barn in responses to
the things He was reminding me of through His Word. I did a few more
verses correctly, before trying my game again.
Well, my phone
still couldn't connect to the wi-fi well enough for the game to turn
on! "Oh well," I thought, "I'll just go back to my
verse!" My verses were suddenly seeming like the thing I'd
rather do anyway.
It takes me about an hour to milk right now,
because I'm getting about 3 quarts out of 5 does, and it just takes
that much time to do it, between switching goats between stalls,
feeding, and tethering one back leg to remind them to cooperate, and
doing the actual milking! Since memory review does not take a hand,
most of the time, and I could do it for most of that hour, by the
end, I had said 28 passages correctly. The Lord had reminded me that
I'm not living for the "here and now", that there IS
blessing in the work He's calling me to, that heaven is my very real
reward, to praise Him in the midst of the people He has placed around
me (like David purposed to praise Him in the midst of the
congregation), and that God is working HIS PERFECT PURPOSES through
all of my trials and personal heartaches. In addition to praying, I
also found my heart was happier, and I was actually singing different
songs the verses were reminding me of!
I came in truly
refreshed, and ready to face another day, WITH the Lord.
I
don't like talking about myself. But I wanted to share just this one
little a glimpse into my life today. I want to encourage my Christian
brothers and sisters to TAKE THE TIME to be in God's Word!
If
I hadn't taken the time to originally memorize these passages, I
wouldn't be able to sit down and fly through so many, so quickly, and
I would have missed ALL of the things the Lord encouraged me with
this morning. (I would have remained discouraged with life!)
Since
I have been SO BLESSED by how God has used Bible memory in my life, I
try to encourage others to memorize verses. The most common response
is that people think they "can't" memorize, because God
hasn't blessed them with a mind that can remember.
When I was
a teen, I also thought I couldn't memorize. Then my church did a
Sunday School contest on memorizing. At the beginning of those few
weeks, I was writing the verse out, over and over again, in my
notebook. It was tedious work, because memorizing was HARD. But by
the end of those weeks, I had learned HOW to memorize, and that I
could acutually do it quite well.
Eventually I learned that I could
memorize 1-3 new verses a day, and retain them (all) with review, but
I had to give it time. (Probably around 3 hours a week.)
What
I encourage people to do is to TRY and memorize, and see what your
abilities are, and work with them!
And, even more importantly,
don't spend all of that effort to memorize a verse, only to never
think about it again and loose it. Review, review, review! It takes
MUCH less effort to review already-memorized verses than to learn a
new one, and I have found the Lord uses those already memorized
verses MORE than the new ones anyway!
I am convinced that
people who are blessed with enough ability to speak and function
normally in life can also, at the very least, memorize a verse a
month. I think most people could handle a verse a week. And some
people might be able to do more! But most Christians do not try. And
then they miss the ENTIRE blessing of the Holy Spirit reminding them
of the most precious lessons God has taught them in life, just
because they (like me this morning) don't want to give Him a little
bit of their time. We end up living like babies, stuck in whatever
the current trial is, instead of remembering the things He's been
teaching us and moving forward, in our spiritual lives.
Please,
friends, try it and see. Take the verse that God has used in your
life most recently, and memorize it. Write it on a slip of paper, and
put it in your pocket to look at throughout the day/week/month. Commit
it to memory, with YOUR abilities, on the time-table God lays on YOUR
heart, and let this be the beginning of you "hiding God's Word
in your heart", and giving Him one of the most effective tools
to teach YOU about HIS WAYS, applying, again and again, His truth to
your life as you add verse after verse (12 a year! Or 52 if you go
for one a week!) to your arsenal of personally learned and applied
truth from His Word.
God WILL use it in your life, and you
will wonder why you haven't been utilizing this all along!
If
you already have memorized passages of scripture, better yet! Add
whatever it is God is teaching you with today, and begin reviewing
what you already know. You will be so blessed.
I'll end with
one of my favorite verses. (And, yes, one that was up for review
today!)
"For with thee is the fountain
of life; in thy light shall we see light." (Psalm
36:9)
Friends, we get so twisted up in our own thoughts as we
go through life. With God is the fountain of life. We can only see
his light (which is the only REAL light) through Him. Since He
communicates to us through His Word, WE NEED TO BE IN HIS WORD. When
we read it, we usually think about it once. When we memorize it, we
think about it again and again, and our (unstable) hearts NEED
this.
Try it.
