Memorizing Scripture

Oh, I had known for years that I should memorize Scripture and hide God’s Word in my heart, but for the lack of a good plan, my attempts failed or slowly dwindled to nothing. [I was challenged] to memorize one verse per week, by reading/saying the verse five times each day for a week and then the second week moving on to the next verse in the passage repeating the process, but the fifth time reviewing the verse from the previous week. This way entire passages can be memorized quite easily. I took the challenge, although one verse per week didn’t seem like much. However, after over three years and almost two hundred verses, I am thrilled to see that one verse a week adds up quickly and that I have been hiding God’s Word in my heart.

Perhaps the greatest blessing of memorizing Scripture in this way has been learning a deeper meaning of passages. For instance, one passage I memorized was Philippians:4:4Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
See All...–13. For years I have heard the 13th verse quoted and have quoted it myself as “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” In my mind, I usually applied it to any task that was taxing on my human strength. Yet, as I memorized this portion of Scripture and came to verse 13 after verse 12, the verse took on new meaning. Paul writes that he was instructed both to abound and to suffer need, both to be full and to be hungry. It is true that I can get through any difficult circumstance with Christ’s strength, but it is also true that I can do without legitimate needs in my life with Christ’s strength! This is without doubt the key to the Christians who have been martyred for their faith, and it is the key to our daily lives. We have no “right” to anything but that which God graciously allows into our lives—whether we abound or whether we suffer need.May each of us be growing closer to the Lord by obeying His command of hiding His Word in our hearts.

--Ruth Marie Fueller, Missionary to Germany