Two Month Scripture Memorization Challenge

Don't let those whippersnappers in the Bible Bee show you up.  Let them be your stimulus; may the lisping of babes ordain praise from us.

This last Sunday evening I had the great joy of attending our Bible Bee Kickoff. Our meeting space was crammed with kids who were intent on being in God's word for the next 10 weeks.

It's a joy to know that these kids (and their parents) will be plowing through memory cards, study sessions, and the dynamics of the Hebrew language. 

But I'd like us to do more than simply say, "Good for them!"  I'd like us to be prodded on by their example.  I want to challenge you to memorize some Scripture this summer.  

Scripture memorization is not just a good discipline, it is biblical. 

• We are to hide God's word in our hearts .  Psalm 119:11
• We are to let it dwell in us richly.  Col. 3:16
• We are to bind it on our foreheads. Deut. 6:8

Memorizing Scripture also benefits us in so many ways.  We become more apt to share it, live it, teach it, and be conformed unto it.

Do you want to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18)?  Do you know how that happens?  It isn't by a mystical lightning bolt that is thrown from heaven or through some trippy seance.  It is through Scripture memorization.  If you compare Eph. 5: and Col. 3:16, you'll find that being filled with the Spirit and letting the word dwell in you richly is synonymous.

For this reason, I invite you to create your own Bible Bee.  Take the next two months to cauterize a few Scripture verses into your mind.  

Break out those note cards and write it down.  There's one of the first proactive ways to latch it to your brain.  That hand-mind coordination does miracles in terms of learning.

Say it loud; say it proud.  When you do, it reinforces the muscle reflex in your noggin and helps to anchor it down.

Pray it.  If you are memorizing Psalm 84: "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts.  My heart longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord."  Make that your prayer.  Pray that you'd have that longing for worship.  Ask the Lord to fill our church with people who are fainting for communion with hm.  

[Did I make a mistake?  Don't laugh.  I sought to write that verse from memory.]

Want to be hip and cutting edge?  Then try the Bible Memory App.  This program is pretty neat.  You'll learn Scripture by typing it out several times and in different ways.   

No matter what method you chose, it comes down to the age old act of repetition, repetition, repetition.  Each time you repeat a verse, it is hammered more securely into your soul.

Again, the challenge is to dedicate yourself to this one discipline for just two months.  In the next 8 weeks, you could easily learn 8 verses.  You may even begin with the words of Jesus...
 
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  John 15:7

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