An Invitation to My Brothers and Sisters

"OK, Thanks, I'll pray about that and get back to you." 

How many of us have heard that when we asked someone to serve in a ministry?  How many of us have used that as a response?  It's a polite, "Christian-sounding" answer as it tells the listener, "I am going to speak to the Lord about this to make sure I'm in His will before I commit to anything."  Now I am sure that there are some instances where that is genuinely the case.  I am not here to judge anyone's true intentions or heart, but in the other cases, do I dare say - this is a wimpy excuse! 

 
Well I am here to invite my brothers and sisters to join me in this quest.  Nay, I am here to challenge my brothers and sisters to join me in this quest!  Let's do something hard for crying out loud!  How long are we going to sit around and claim to be Christians without showing a true commitment to put the word of God into our hearts? 

No more "I'll pray about that and get back to you" on this one!  Because I've got news for you...  The Lord has already made His answer clear.  He wants you to learn His Word!  Period!  There is no need to pray and seek the Lord's will on this one. His commandments are clear. We are to learn His word. We are to deposit it permanently into our hearts. Forever.

    

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”  Psalm 1:1-2

 

 

“How can a young man keep his way pure?  By living according to your word.  I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.  I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  Psalm 119:9-11

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9

God is so sweet. I especially like those last verses from Joshua. After telling us to meditate on His word day and night and to obey it - he immediately tells us not to be terrified! How can I tell God that memorizing His word is too hard or that I'm afraid to make this kind of commitment? He is clearly telling me to be strong and courageous and that He is with me wherever I go. That's all I need. How about you?

Join me!
  I am going to begin memorizing on April 15, 2012.

     

No Excuses!

 

Believe me, I understand the "large-ness" of this task. I know what it's like to hear for the first time that you're being challenged to memorized an entire book of the Bible. But I am committed to pursuing this goal and will not allow Satan's lies to get into my head. Below are a few of his favorite lies that we need to stop using as excuses!

"I just don't have that kind of time." Well what the heck are we doing all day? I have 4 small children and I UNDERSTAND what it's like to be busy! Our fallen world has a multitude of responsibilities and distractions. But how on earth can we afford to go through this life without being armed with God's Word? Let's take a minute and look - I mean really take a good, hard look at the way we spend our time. Especially since prayer, reading His Word, and memorizing Scripture does not require extended periods of time (although all the more wonderful when we are able to linger in His presence). Are you really going to tell God you're too busy for Him?

"It's impossible for me to memorize much at my age. Old people just don't have the brain ability anymore." Now I'm not what one would consider "old", but I am indeed able to relate to difficulties learning. To all our Seniors out there, I would say, please try! What about "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me?" Take hold and trust in His promises! He is on your side and wants you to do this so you can be certain that He will equip you for what He has called you to do. No, you might not memorize a chapter a time, but don't you want to be obedient and persist at putting His Word into your heart? Just as your body slows down and it takes longer to walk through the grocery store, your mind slows down and it takes you longer to memorize things. Well you didn't give up buying groceries, did you? So what if it takes a little longer to get the verses down! Take your time and keep plugging away at them - who cares how long it takes? Would you rather your heart be completely void of His word or have your Savior smiling down at you with pleasure for your efforts?

"Why bother doing all that work to memorize it when it's right here in my Bible or literally a click away on my handheld device?" You need to go back and read my page about Why Memorize Scripture. It's about so much more than just 'having access to information.' Memorizing Scripture is a beautiful, intimate process through which the Holy Spirit communicates with us. He spends time with us, He speaks with us, we grow infinitely closer as His Words take root in our hearts. His Words change us. They change our hearts and minds and give us the strength to resist conforming to the pattern of this world. His Words are the bread of life. Let's feast on them together! There is nothing else I'd rather deposit into my heart than the sweet, life-giving words of my Father.

Don't let Satan lie to you. God has asked you to meditate on His word, to put it into your heart. After all He has done for us, is that too much to ask?

Schedule

 

I have created a schedule that I will use as a guideline during my memorization. I realize that there may be months when I might learn extra, or months where I struggle and do not meet my goal. Having it charted out will keep me visually updated on my progress.

John has 879 verses. Over 2 years, that equals 36.6 verses per month. Rather than just assigning 36 verses to each month, I tried to divide them as equally as possible using the different subject headings that my Bible has. This way, I have clear beginning and ending points rather than stopping in the middle of a section.

Using the memorization techniques that I have studied, I plan to read the monthly passage aloud 50 times. Then I will go through and memorize the passage verse by verse. When I can recite the entire passage 10 times without making a mistake, I will move onto the next passage.

Click here to see the chart I have made so that I can keep track of how many times I have read and recited each passage.

For all the tons of people who will be faithfully memorizing with me, I also created a daily schedule to follow (which works out to be 1-2 verses per day). Click here to see the daily schedule.