Memorization of Scripture, part 2

God has been gracious in allowing me to memorize some Scripture over the past few weeks. Presently, I began working on memorizing the book of 1 Timothy. As a young pastor, I don't know of a better book to commit to memory than this. As you might guess, I plan on memorizing 2 Timothy and Titus as well. That will equip and arm me with the Pastoral Epistles as I seek to be a faithful shepherd/pastor/elder.

Do you know how many verses are in the New Testament? Take a guess... The correct number is 7957 (yes, I counted them myself). This fact is interesting to me because I thought it would be more than that. 4786 of these verses (60% of the NT) are in the four Gospels and Acts.

I had a crazy thought, so I will throw it out here for your amusement or conviction (depending on how you take it). I began thinking, "If I were to memorize one verse of Scripture a day, how long would it take me to memorize the entire New Testament?" I did the math and it comes out to 21.8 years. I know that is a long time, but what a challenge!

I was very convicted after thinking about this, because I have been very negligent in memorizing Scripture over the past 16 years of my life as a believer. If I would have started memorizing a verse a day when I was saved, I would only have 5.8 more years before the entire NT was finished!

I have read that Daniel Webster could quote the entire Bible. I have read of others who have memorized the Psalter or other portions of the Bible.

I don't know how you will respond to my rambling, but I would challenge you to take this to heart. How long does it take to memorize one verse of Scripture? For me, about 2-3 minutes. Perhaps it takes you 5 minutes. Don't allow Satan to cast doubt into your mind. Refuse to listen to him, since he is "the accuser of the brethren" (Revelation 12:10).

One verse per day, every day, for the rest of your life...

Selah

Memorization of Scripture

I know, I know...

Most of us want to navigate away from material that deals with Scripture memory. At one point of another, we have said (or thought), "I just can't memorize Scripture. It is too hard."

Recently, I came upon a wonderful article on the subject, "An Approach to the Extended Memorization of Scripture" by Dr. Andy Davis at First Baptist Church in Durham, NC. You can visit the church's website and click the "Writings" tab on the left-hand side.

I have been reminded of many Scriptures that speak of the importance of the Word of God in the daily life of a believer.

• "It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’" (Matthew 4:4)
• "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth" (John 17:17)
• "How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word.With all my heart I have sought Thee; 10 Do not let me wander from Thy commandments. 11 Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee." (Psalm 119:9-11)
• "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2)
• "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)
• "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." (2 Peter 1:20-21)

I could list more and more verses than these listed above, but you get the point. Unless we are actively working to retain our Bible knowledge, we are fighting a losing battle. A casual glance at the parable of the soils (Mark 4:1-25) tells us that three of the four responses were bad responses after hearing the Word of God.

1. "when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them." (4:15)
2. "when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away." (4:16-17)
3. "who have heard the word, 19 and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." (4:18-19)
4. "they hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." (4:20)

It is humbling to read Christ's own interpretation of this parable and realize the dangers of a slothful response to God's Word. The apostle James warns us, "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." (James 1:22). One way that we could become "doers of the Word" is to memorize His Word!

Read Dr. Davis' article. Pray and ask God for help in memorizing Scripture. You will be surprised at what you will be able to accomplish through His power.