A voice says, ‘Cry out.’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’ ‘All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures for ever.’
Isaiah 40:6-8 NIVUK
MEMORISE IT
Scripture memorisation is something every Christian agrees is important - for children. That's why we have it as part of Children's Clubs and Sunday School. But it seems to be something we grow out of. As adults, we make excuses. 'I couldn't do it. I'm too old now.' is one of the ones you hear most often.
Nonsense.
I was once in a church in the Philippines that does something quite different every year. They live in a country that mixes the Asian work ethic and thirst for education with American-style competitiveness. So this church, which has a youth group of around two hundred young people, has a Bible Quizbowl every year. Their youth pastor gives them a book of the Bible. They have to learn it and memorise it. They split into teams and have a quiz competition, which resembles a spiritual game show, every year.
Another friend of mine runs Bible quizzes for local schools. He gives the kids a book of the Bible. They study it. Then they compete to see who wins.
Competition is a good motivator to get people to do anything. And if it gets unchurched young people into the Word of God then I'm all for that.
But we have to be careful that Scripture memorisation doesn't become purely an academic exercise: like an exam, where we flood our short term memory with information and then forget it as soon as we put our pens down.
You see, the Bible gives us reasons why we should learn and memorise the Word of God, and none of them are academic:
I remember, Lord, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them.
Psalms 119:52 NIVUK
The first reason is that we find comfort in them. Recalling the Word of God is like a bouyancy aid for a drowning man. It pulls us out of our suffering by reminding us who we have on our side. As Jeremiah, the weeping prophet stated:
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:19-26 NIVUK
Remembering who the Lord is what He does is one of single greatest weapons every Christian has against despondency and despair. The way we sharpen that weapon for battle is by memorising the Word of God. Nothing else is quite like it. Nothing else makes us stronger or more resilient.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Psalms 119:11 NIVUK
Memorising Scripture is also really a vital weapon in the fight against temptation. You see, right from the beginning, one of satan's key tactics has always been to twist and distort the Word of God (Genesis 3:1-5). So it should be no surprise at all that when Jesus was tempted, even while in a hungry and thirsty state, He fought back by using the Word of God (Matthew 4:1-10; Luke 4:1-13). Paul even called the Bible 'the sword of the Spirit' (Ephesians 6:17).
Could you imagine a soldier running into a life or death battle and leaving his most potent weapon behind? Of course not! That would be foolish!
It's equally as foolish to head into modern life without at least working on memorising some key verses.
But how do we do it?
It's not hard. Write the verse down on a piece of paper. Put that piece of paper near to your bed. Read it at least seven times when you get up and at least seven times before you sleep.
Write it on another piece of paper and pin it to your refrigerator. Read it when you go to your kitchen to get food.
Write it on a small card. Carry that card with you. When you have a few spare seconds, read the card. You will have that verse memorised in a week.
Or you can try more artistic methods. Make a song of it. Break the verse into a series of pictures and memorise them, if you are a visual person.
In the end, it doesn't really matter how you do it. The most important thing is to remember that verse.
I spent time memorising verses as a young person, a missionary and in Children's Club group leader. I could not count the number of times those verses have stopped me from giving up, pulled me out of a downer, stopped me from doing something I'd regret or calmed me down. The effort I invested has paid off big time. It will for you too.
I had to learn scripture as a child. It has stood me in good stead over the years being able to recall and rely on the promises in the Word.