I've told you before...memorization is not my forte. In fact, when our music pastor at church first asked me if I'd want to be a narrator for a program, my immediate answer was: Sure! If I can read it. If I have to memorize, I'm out.
I've never been great at memorization, and if you add to that the utter stage fright I get when I stand in front of a group and have to recall information...well...it's not good.
But this year I made a goal to try to be intentional about memorizing Scripture, because I know it's important. I told you I found this list of verses to memorize, and I've been working at it already in this early part of 2020.
Even though we're only half a month into the year, I do have three observations to share with you regarding this adventure.
1. If you are part of kids' lives, start teaching them verses right now.
I wasn't always terrible about memorization, of course. I could accumulate information with the best of them as a little girl. And I'm learning as I go through these verses that the ones I did learn as a little girl are firmly fixed in my brain. I can spout them off rapidly, and I am grateful for parents, Sunday School teachers, and youth pastors who encouraged Scripture memorization.
If you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher, Sunday School teacher, mentor (you get the idea, right?) - please, OH PLEASE start teaching the little ones in your life right now. Those words will settle in and stay there, long into adulthood. I only wish I would have learned more then so I would know more now.
2. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Thank you, Judy, for sending me that little story last week! I'm going to share it here!
My friend Judy emails me now and then with thoughts brought on by blog posts, and I always love hearing from her. After she read about my goal back on New Year's Day, she sent me some encouragement, including this little story that was in a newsletter at her church:
Long ago, a farmer working in his field observed a young fellow carrying a bucket and walking down a long road tot he local stream, the nearest source of fresh water. He filled his large bucket and then walked the long road back home. But there was something puzzling. The young fellow's bucket had several small holes. As the man watched, he could see that water was pouring out of the holes. The man had to wonder whether there really was any water left in the bucket by the time the young fellow reached his destination. Day after day, the man watched the youngster carrying out this same routine. Finally, he could not hold his curiosity any longer. When the young man passed his way on his return trip, the farmer asked him why on earth he kept walking to the stream and filling his bucket with water, only to lose most of it on the way back home. Cheerily, the young man replied, "Well, I won't argue with you on that, Sir. But at least my bucket is staying clean!"
This story is a wonderful illustration of the value of Scripture memorization. Whether or not we are able to remember and recite the Scriptures we've pondered over and committed into our hearts weeks, months, or years later, they are deepening our walk with the Lord and doing a life-changing spiriutal work in our hearts.
As a not-so-recovering perfectionist, I admit that sometimes I get frustrated with memory work - to the point of wanting to quit - when I can't recall things exactly. I really appreciated this reminder that even if I don't have it down word-for-word, the work I am putting into this does matter. It is doing a work. No quitting!
3. Look for songs to help you.
This past week, one of the verses on the list was very familiar to me because I remember most of it from a song that appeared in an Easter cantata I sang in back in junior high. It's not the first time I've realized a song I know is pulled from the words of Scripture, and I've learned that I can memorize much better when it's set to music.
If you're having a rough time getting a song in your mind, check to see if it's been put to music anywhere. Maybe you can learn the song!
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Those are my observations so far. Is it going perfectly for me? Nope. But is it going? Yep. And I don't intend to quit.
3 comments:
It may look cheesy, but adding motions to a verse can make it much easier to memorize.
I have always been amazed by the devotion of Christians to memorize verses. Is there a reason it's done often? In Judaism we have phrases from our cannon we site frequently but kids don't memorize phrases, etc.
Julie - That is the truth! At one of the churches we used to go to, the worship leader would teach us motions and it really did help!
Tamar - Great question! I want to do it so my mind is filled with words of encouragement and truth. I was also really challenged when I read the book written by a woman who was kidnapped (along with her husband) and held captive for over a year. They didn't have access to the internet or a Bible during their captivity, so they had to rely on what they had committed to memory. Obviously I would never hope that situation on myself or anyone else, but it was a reminder to me that I shouldn't take access for granted!
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