Memorize

Wednesday, October 19

Memorize 

Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11

Very recently in our Holy Convocation the speaker was reciting from the book of Psalms and I thought wow! So good to just know the Word of God in the moment not having to rely on the prompter or a physical Bible. This made me wonder. When Jesus and the apostles quoted the Old Testament off the top of their heads as they spoke during the course of their ministry? Do you think they were using scrolls or fancy iPads as we do these days? Nope! In those cases they were quoting from memory, not from a scroll. They took the Old Covenant admonition seriously to know God’s Word by heart.

What about you? Do you have God’s Word memorized in your heart? We should because we never know when we’ll need to use the sword of the spirit in a fight against the enemy. Such was the case when Jesus responded to Satan’s three temptations in the wilderness—He quoted three verses from Deuteronomy from memory (Matthew 4:1-11). If we are going to defeat Satan’s lies and temptations with the truth of God, we must store up the Word of God in our heart like the psalmist—“that [we] might not sin against [God].”

While in the midst of temptation is not the time to begin your search for Scriptures. Begin today to be prepared—to commit God’s Word to memory. (Psalm 1, Psalm 27, Psalm 61, Psalm 119 – these are all good places to begin.)