Last week I wrote about the importance of spending time engaging with God’s word (not just reading it). Another way we can meditate on God’s word is to memorize it.
I can see your eyes glazing over now as excuses flood your mind:
- I don’t have a good memory.
- I’m too busy.
- I memorized a lot of scripture when I was a kid.
- I don’t know what to memorize.
- You don’t understand, I have never been able to remember Bible verses.
- Memorizing bible verses is kid stuff.
- Memorizing Bible verses is for super-Christians.
Okay, just stop.
The Bible says we should hide God’s word in our hearts so that we won’t sin against him (Psalm 119:11). It doesn’t give qualifications for busyness, sleepless nights, age, maturity in Christ, or a poor memory (remember, God knit your mind together in your mother’s womb knowing he’d instruct you to learn his word). The Bible reminds us we are at war, and the path to victory begins with the mind (2 Corinthians 10:3-7).
Bottom line: God instructs you to memorize his word. Are you going to obey or not?
If you are interested in memorizing scripture, but don’t know where to start here are some ideas:
Psalm 119:11
2 Timothy 3:16-17
John 3:16
The Romans Road to Salvation (great for reminding yourself of the nature and character of God and man – and also great verses for evangelism):
- Romans 3:10
- Romans 3:23
- Romans 5:12
- Romans 6:23
- Romans 5:8
- Romans 10:9-10
- Romans 10:13
James Chapter 1 (and 2, 3, 4, 5…) – Seriously, sometimes memorizing larger passages is actually easier because there is a flow to the verses that you lose when you take single verses or pairs of verses on their own.
Psalm 100
You can also do a web search for verses that speak to a specific area of temptation, or to find a verse when you can only remember a few words of it. I search for verses all the time by typing in something like, “bible verse about a talking donkey” and, Boom!, in seconds I’ve got Numbers 22:28 on my screen. {If you didn’t know there was a talking donkey in the Bible, you should really go read that story now. 🙂 }
OK, I may not need to memorize the verse about the talking donkey, but it’s really that easy to find Bible verses. Try something like, “bible verse about anger” or “bible verse about patience” and see what you find.
I’d love to hear what you are memorizing. I’m always looking for new verses to learn (though there are several memory verses in the Redeeming Easter: A Resurrection Day Study if you’d like to join us).