Bible memorization has been on my bucket list for years. It was only after my son took ill in the winter that I had decided to do something about it. It was then that I had memorized Psalms 23 fully. Moving ahead to today, I am in the process of memorizing Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6 and 7.
The importance of Bible memorization
I am sure someone will ask, why is Bible memorization so important? After all, anyone can quickly summon the Bible on a device with a few simply swipes. What would be the benefit to committing God’s Word to memory?
The discipline of memorizing scripture produces fruit that will remain with a person for the rest of his or her life. First, it will draw the reader closer to God by establishing his word in the heart of the reader. Second, the reader will gain wisdom with the slow and labored act of ingesting biblical truths on a daily basis, wisdom that can only come with the passage of time. Third, and most importantly, when the reader needs help with life’s trials, and the reader will need that help, God, through the Holy Spirit, will bring into remembrance the learned words as a means to carry the reader through those trials.
Why I began memorizing scripture
When my son was in the hospital for a month, I had a lot of time by his bedside to think about life. I also had a lot of time to read what God had to say about it all. His words, especially Psalms, were a comfort to me.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” (Psalms 23:4)
As each day dragged into the next, I knew God was there with me in spite of my not having an answer as to why he would allow tragedy to strike my family as it did. Those words eventually became part of me, where now I can not only repeat them aloud without much effort, but also recall experiences attached to those words; experiences I would not have had otherwise, had I not gone through everything I did with my family at the time.
How I commit the Bible to memory
The way I commit the words of the Bible to memory is the only way I have found that works for me:
- Choose a book or chapter that has affected you on a personal level
- Learn a verse a day
- Recall the previous day’s verse before adding a new verse
- Read the text carefully, looking at each word of the text until you can picture it in your mind
- Write everything down that you have learned so far
- Meditate on the words and make them a part of you
It involves a lot of hard work
I cannot stress how important it is to understand that moving forward with the discipline of scripture memorization is going to be a lot of hard work. Some days will be more rewarding than other days, but recognizing that fact in no way diminishes the overall goal of knowing God’s truths in such an intimate way.
Ultimately, the reward will be God’s word living inside our minds and in our hearts, leading us in our daily walk with Jesus.
