Scripture Memorization (chapters 8-10)
So the summer is winding down, and so is our study of Sweet Journey. Originally, I had planned to do separate
entries for these final chapters, but upon reading them I realized that they
really go together nicely. Plus, she
tends to follow the same pattern with each of her sections (description,
practical aspects, then application), so I decided to wait and do the three
chapters on Scripture Memorization together. You don’t mind, do you? :-) Don’t
worry, though, this post shouldn’t be any longer than the others! Shouldn’t be…!
Task #1
So quickly, by way of review, take a few minutes and recall
some of the benefits of what we’ve learned and studied this summer. Share them with someone – ANYONE! You can
comment here (I’m aware that the comments on this blogger are tricky…more on
that later), or you can email me, or you can leave me/us out of the loop
altogether! Tell a friend, your husband, your neighbor, or your mailman – just share
with someone. I think everyone can benefit from hearing how you’ve grown or
what you’ve learned.
I also want to jump right to my “cautionary statement of the
week” right away, too. I know that it
seems like every time I post I have some word of caution or warning about things,
and I don’t mean to seem like the woman who is always skeptical or looking for
the worst, I really don’t. But the fact
is that we must be on guard – even with our “trusted” authors – to be sure that
we are not promoting or continuing (or even subconsciously recommending) ideas
or behaviors that are dishonoring to our holy God or that misrepresent Him in
any way. If I seem hyper-sensitive about
these kinds of things, well, I’m okay with that. In the end, I’d rather be the woman who was hyper-sensitive
than the woman who allowed her sisters in Christ to be subtly led astray by wrong
thinking about God. Whew! All that to
introduce my word of caution! And it’s not even a big one! But it bears noting –
in chapter 8, Teri refers to “increasing the sensitivity of our spirit to Jesus’
voice.” Please, please, PLEASE be sure
you notice her context and understand what she is saying here. In the next
sentence she clarifies that we “hear” His voice THROUGH SCRIPTURE. Sister, if
ANYONE tells you that you can hear the audible voice of God (Jesus, the Holy
Spirit, etc), they are soundly mistaken.
At best they misunderstand, but at worst they are deceived. Why am I so crazy-rabid about this kind of
thing? Well, let’s set aside for a second that fact that it misrepresents what
God says in His Word and just say this: once you start believing that you are “hearing”
the voice of God – in your own ear/mind/heart – then you have replaced the authority of Scripture. You can no longer
rely on its trustworthiness or authority – because, after all, if God can speak
directly to you, can He not speak to someone else? And what if those things
contradict? When does Scripture get “trumped”? Why even read the Bible? And do not come back to me with, “but I will
test what I hear against Scripture!” Why? Why not START with Scripture? Why risk
the dangers of “listening”? The Almighty
God of the universe wrote down what He wanted you to “hear!” And trust me, He has plenty to say to you in
His Word! You could study the Bible all
day, every day, for the rest of your life and not glean all of what He has to
say to you in it! It is richer and more satisfying than anything you may think
you “hear”! So why are you looking
elsewhere? It’s like digging in the dumpster for leftovers when a 5-star feast
is sitting on your table! To sum up, and
to give you a quick response that you can use when you hear people suggesting
God is audibly speaking to them: The
Word of God is THE method by which we “hear” from God. To paraphrase the saying
from a previous post – if you want to hear God speak to you, read His Word. If
you want to hear him audibly – READ IT OUT LOUD! :-)
Hmm, did I say this post wasn’t going to be any longer than
the others? ;-)
Back to the book!
Following the same pattern she used for Bible Reading and Prayer Time,
Teri now lays out the basics for Scripture Memorization. I think these chapters were the easiest to
read, but the toughest to implement.
Memorizing anything - in this day and age - seems old-fashioned
sometimes, doesn’t it? I mean, why
memorize something that I have ready access to at any point in my day? I’m
almost never without some sort of electronic device! But here’s the thing – the Bible is like NO
OTHER book or text you could memorize. Come
on, now, I just spent half a page ranting about how it is the very Word of the
living God! Hebrews tells us that it is “living
and powerful,” “sharper than any two-edged sword,” and is a “discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.” Tell
me one other book that meets even one of those descriptors! You can’t! Now
listen, I’m an English teacher, so memorizing poetry and Shakespeare are things
I find useful. But when I’m looking for comfort for my soul, I don’t recite the
poetry of Robert Frost! When I’m looking
for strength to resist temptation, I don’t recite Shakespeare! Those men are
dead, and their words are just that: dead. The cleverly crafted prose of the
Bard did not come back from the dead.
The Word did! It is alive, and when I read it and study it and commit it
to memory it helps to shape and mold me into the woman that the Lord wants me
to be! Is it challenging? Yes. Worth it?
Absolutely!
Anything worth doing is usually challenging, right? I’m
trying to learn karate (don’t judge), for example. It is worth doing – I need the
exercise, and I need to know how to defend myself if necessary. But it is tough! First of all, I’m using
muscles and movements that are wholly unfamiliar to me. Well, they’re familiar to me now – because of
the aching – but you get my point. ;-)
Second of all, it requires practice. Lots and lots of practice. I will be the first to admit that I will
never be “good” at karate. I will never compete or probably even use it outside
the confines of the practice dojo. So I don’t practice as often as I should.
And guess what – I’m not improving at a rapid rate. I’m getting slightly
better, but my poor instructor is forever having to re-teach me basic moves
that I should know by now! He regularly
reminds me that much of karate is about “muscle memory.” You’ve probably seen
the old Karate Kid movie and can recall Mr. Miyagi’s famous “wax on…wax off”
scene. It’s true, you know. You
repeatedly work a muscle in a certain way and it becomes natural for that
muscle! I could improve my karate skills
tenfold if I would take the time to develop muscle memory. But it takes time. How many times did that
poor kid “wax on…wax off” before it worked? Memorizing scripture is the same –
you have to develop the muscle memory! But unlike karate, you CAN use it every
day! :-)
So the challenge here is to do it. Memorize scripture. Allow the living Word of God to transform and
renew your mind (Romans 12:2). As you
memorize it, you will meditate on it, and it will strengthen you!
Practically speaking, there is no “right way” to do it. I
liked her idea of having the whiteboard near the dinner table and practicing
verses as a family at dinner time. I
once memorized the book of Philippians by hand-writing every verse on notecards
and reading/rereading/repeating the verses day after day after day. It took me
about a year, and while I was pretty tickled with myself for doing it I’m sad
to say that I stopped practicing it so I’ve lost that “muscle memory.” I’d love to do it again.
I’m a little wary of memorizing verses too far out of
context. (Look! Another cautionary
word!) I’m reminded of a that Mizpah necklace
that used to be popular (maybe it still is): it had a verse on it and it broke
into two parts so you could wear one half and your loved one could wear the
other. The verse was Genesis 31:49, which says, “May the Lord watch between you
and me when we are absent from one another.”
Now on the surface and out of context that seems so sweet – you and your
loved one are apart and the Lord is going to protect you! (Cue sappy music
here!) But have you ever looked at the context of that verse? It’s part of the
story of Jacob and Laban, and it is actually part of a warning that Laban issues to Jacob! Even just reading one more
verse clears it up! Verse 50: “If you afflict my daughters, or if you take
other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see – God is
witness between you and me!” Mizpah wasn’t
a prayer of protection – it was a word of warning not to be a jerk or break
promises! (Cue scratching sound of sappy
music being cut off!) Bottom line –
check the context of what you are memorizing. Better yet – memorize whole
passages! Learn from the outset that when we come to feast on the Word of God,
we eat whole meals – not just nibbles! :-)
This brings me to the Verse Notebook. I’m going to step up
as “leader” of this study and say skip it.
Just skip it. The more I read
about it, the more it just looks like a slippery slope. First of all, there’s a
concordance in your Bible, so if you are desperate for a verse about love or
covetousness or whatever then learn to use your concordance. Better yet –
commit large passages of scripture to memory! ;-) Second of all, Verse Notebooks encourage you
to take verses out of context to suit your needs. See my Mizpah story for the
problems with this. Don’t misrepresent God by misusing His Word! Third of all,
and most importantly, I think it is dangerous to put so much emphasis on “how
Scripture applies to ME.” Yes, Scripture
applies to us, but understand first that the Word is God’s revelation of
HIMSELF to us. Resist the urge to only
memorize or study those portions of the Bible that you think apply to you. You’ll miss out on some amazing stuff! Focus first on what the passage your
reading/studying/memorizing says about God – THEN ask what that implies for
you. In fact – maybe we should make
Verse Notebooks for the Lord! How different would your Verse Notebook be if it
was full of verses that say things about God, not about us!
Task #2
In chapter 9 she lists some passages to memorize. I like
that idea. I said before that I once memorized Philippians. I’d like to renew
that memorization. What about you? What
are you memorizing? Or planning to memorize?
State your goal(s). They don’t have to be huge (like memorizing Philippians),
but I think the accountability will help!
Task #3
What is your go-to way for memorizing Scripture? If you don’t
have one, maybe one of the ways Teri mentioned seems doable to you?
Just a final reminder – you don’t have to respond to all the
Tasks if you’re not up to it. And you don’t have to respond here. I appreciate
those of you who have emailed me, texted me, or just told me face to face that
you’ve been participating in this study. And as we bring this study to a close,
I hope that you will remember what we’ve learned and put those things to use in
your own walk with the Lord!
I said before that I’d talk about the blogger issue, but now
I think I’ll save that for another time.
I may try to squeeze one last post out of this book (there is one more
chapter, but it’s the wrap-up), but if I don’t, I will at least update you soon
on what is to become of this blog in the future. :-) Thanks again for participating, and be sure
to contact me any time!
Praying for you!
-Kristin
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