I wanted to let you guys in on something I started almost 2 weeks ago. I had a conversation with a friend of mine where we were talking about life, the bible, etc. and at one point of the conversation I wanted to make a point using a specific quote from scripture to validate what I was trying to say. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quote the scripture and to make it worse, I didn’t even know what book of the Bible it was in…I just “knew” it was in the Bible somewhere. I left that conversation very frustrated with myself. So I began to think about the whole thing and play it back in my head and tried to think of all the scriptures that I knew by memory. The list of memorized verses was frighteningly short. At the next moment, by God’s providence, I began to recall everything that I knew, basically, by heart. I was very convicted by what I knew by heart in comparison to what I didn’t know. I could recall whole movies (Dumb and Dumber, Anchorman, etc.), whole songs (most of these should remain nameless), complete MLB lineups (past and present), and telephone numbers from my childhood, but no scripture!!
Here’s where God really grabbed my attention…The few verses I did know were all rooted in MY benefit. I knew what the Bible had to say when it came to MY salvation, but knew almost nothing outside of things that “pertained to ME’. Why do I care so much about MY salvation and don’t really pay much attention to the other parts of scripture?? It’s because I’m self-centered at the core and more concerned with ME rather than God and HIS glory. How hypocritical it is to say I love the God of my salvation, but not really care about what He’s said about Himself or any other part of scripture enough to know some of it by heart?? I know that “all scripture is God breathed and profitable…”, So I’m not knocking on the verses that I and many of you know, but we miss so much when all we know is John 3:16 and a verse or two out of Philippians.
How are we supposed to “meditate on His law day and night…” unless it’s known by heart?? There are lots of times where I don’t have my Bible handy. How am I supposed to fend off the devil with out a sword to fight with?? Satan is millions of times more powerful than we are…our only hope is when God’s word abides in us.
So what I have started is nothing fancy…I’ve simply started trying to memorize scripture. I started with Psalm 1 and 51…and for the first time in my life I have meditated on God’s word using memorized scripture. It is AMAZING the difference!! For those of you who do this already you understand…for those of you who don’t, TRY IT. God really does something supernatural through this…I can’t explain it. All I do is pray and seek God’s help with the memory and pray that He would help me delight in it’s truths…
So it’s my prayer that those of you who aren’t doing this that you would give it a shot…and for those who already do it, be encouraged!! Let’s be a people who craves knowing and understanding scripture…
- Nolan Gottlieb
3 comments:
Nolan, I started to write memory scrips down two seasons ago, and lets just say that notebook is dusty. Great email man, I needed it.
My first scripture to memorize:
"Christ Jesus, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
- Philippians 2:6-11
Merry Christmas!
Blake--dust off that notebook man...I'll memorize everything you do. Let me know where to start. I'm trying to do a Psalm a week...done with 1,23,51,113.
Terry--I'll see your verse and raise you...
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