WHY?????
No, it's not so that I can say that I've done it. It's not to puff myself up. It wasn't actually my idea; I am horrible at memorizing! My heart was prodded and pricked by the Lord until I couldn't ignore Him any longer.
I came across Psalm 119 in my quiet time, reading through the Bible chronologically . I had read it many times before, but on this occasion, I was struck with how often the psalmists spoke of the benefits of learning, meditating, treasuring , and speaking of God's word.
The Lord has been showing me (through His word and conversations with others) lately that I need to magnify Him more with my life. Well, ok...how can I share Him with others and live a life that honors Him if I don't know what His word says (when a Bible is not around to look through)???
So...here I find myself...memorizing the longest chapter of the Bible. Not because it's the longest, but because it is the most clearly stated chapter emphasizing the importance of having His word hidden in our hearts. Interesting how He chose to have the longest chapter in the Bible be all about believer's lives being saturated by His word! We need that reminder! So much worldliness vies for my attention...and gets it, keeping me from living according to His word because I have the things of this world memorized (dates, songs, movies, etc.) instead of His word!
I can't do this by myself. I pray earnestly that the Lord would bless my efforts to memorize His word...and I think He already has. Less than two weeks in and I have the first eight verses memorized! That's a feat for me! (As well as an indication that maybe I am not so bad at memorizing...just lazy!) And it HAS blessed my life already. I find when I am bored or restless, my mind moves immediately to meditating and reviewing these verses. And it has made me eager to memorize more! (I am also currently working on Romans 6 and Psalm 139!)
So...why do you care? 1) please ask me from time to time how my memorizing is going! 2) join me! 4 verses a week...GOAL: all 176 verses by April 2011! If I can do it...you can too!
What Scripture are you hiding in your heart...for the glory of God...NOT the praise of man! Let me know!
Meg
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