Bible verse memorization is commonplace in the modern Church. It’s in Sunday School, on web services, in emails, flashcards, and probably anywhere else you can think of to put a verse. The question is: Is it effective?
Maybe you are, or were, like me. I thought I was a bad Christian. He had a lot of Bible stories going around, even some key verses, but he could never remember them. exactly Correct.
It would say something like, “Present yourselves as a living sacrifice, so that…uh…you may be pleasing to God…and…uh…show that He is worthy.” But, he would work on it, read and study more, and get better at remembering the verses, but he would have trouble remembering the book, the chapter, and the verse.
Then I would say, “Oh, I know them well, but I don’t know where they live.”
At that time, I was a Christian for about 12 years. My friend, a real little boy in the faith (2 years old), was quoting scripture until he turned blue in the face. Honestly, he was jealous.
There was my heart. He wanted to learn Bible verses to memorize just to show that he knew something, gain recognition, prove that he was a ‘man of God’.
Now, I haven’t arrived yet, but I’m definitely gone. I realized that my attitude was wrong and I began to analyze this whole concept of memory verses. What does the bible say? Well, it doesn’t really say much about memorizing verses. There are some verses that can be interpreted to memorize, but I would go one step further. We should not just memorize verses, but focus intensely on them, think about them, rehearse them in our minds and hearts, and chew them like a cow chews the cud; get every last bit of food.
So what is the difference between memorizing and meditating? What may seem like a small matter will make a big difference in your life.
God told the Israelites to make the Scriptures an integral part of their lives:
These commandments that I give you today must be on your hearts. Imprint them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as on your hands, and bind them on your foreheads; write them on the frames of your houses, and on your portals. – Deut. 6:6-9 (NIV)
The first instruction on meditation is found in Joshua 1:8. God tells Joshua that he must (must) meditate on the book of the law day and night. Why? “That you take care to do all that is written in it. Then you will be prosperous and prosperous.” (NIV) The word meditate is the Hebrew word ‘Hagah’ (Strong’s H1897) which means to babble, murmur, utter or speak. God tells Joshua: “You want to fill Moses’ shoes, then think and talk about what is written day and night. Yes, even the book of Numbers.”
On the other hand, David writes: “[The blessed man’s] his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditate day and night.(Psalm 1:2 NIV emphasis mine)
Let me ramble. I believe that memorizing Bible verses is better than not memorizing. It can only benefit you. BUT the Bible teaches to go deeper than mere memorization. In fact, it teaches us not only to memorize but also to hide the Word in our hearts and make it part of who we are. Memorization engages your mind while meditation engages your heart.
A simple story sums up this point. A man had a Christmas party with friends and family. As they gathered around the fire, they decided, in the spirit of the season, to quote his favorite verse. The host, an eloquent speaker, stood up and recited Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…). The guests were amazed at his delivery skills and applauded. After a few others, it was Grandma’s turn. Now Grandma had been dozing off for about half an hour and she had missed what was going on. The host gently woke her up and asked her to recite her favorite verse. Grandma sat up, cleared her throat, and recited Psalm 23. When she finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
As his guests were leaving, a friend approached him and said, “I don’t get it, what was the difference between your recitation and your grandmother’s? They were identical.” The host smiled and simply said, “I know the Psalm. She knows the Pastor.”
So start today. Pick up a favorite memory verse, or look up a popular verse, and take the first step beyond memorization. Write it on the tablet of your heart. After a month, the results may surprise you.