on scripture memorization.

       This is a topic I have recently become incredibly passionate about, and one that most churched Christians seem to be incredibly un-passionate about, myself included up until recently. The problem is that we see it as boring, laborious, time consuming, obligatory, and all in all just unnecessary.  The fact of the matter is, we just don't tend to see enough worth in it to put in the time and effort. Which is a shame.        This summer I set a goal for myself and the amount of scripture I would memorize. My original goal was to memorize all four chapters of Philippians by the time Sr. High camp rolled around. I failed. Sr. High camp showed up and I had barely completed the first chapter. I started thinking maybe I had overestimated myself, but I set a new goal anyway, this time giving myself a little more room to breathe. My new goal was this: have all four chapters of Philippians memorized in the NIV by the time I left for Spain at the end of the summer. And guess what? I failed. Again.
       That's right, even after I tripled the time I had originally given myself I still hadn't managed to accomplish my goal. Talk about frustration. And with nobody to blame but myself. Now I will admit that working at camp leaves very little free time for me to work on my own things, but I still found myself using the majority of my time on other things. My effort, however, was not wasted in the slightest. Yes, I failed to meet my goals, but I did memorize large portions of Philippians and in the process learned incredible things about Gods word.
       I didn't find myself getting bored memorizing, but rather hanging off of Paul's words as if he were speaking directly about my life. Memorizing is hard, I will admit, but the more I did it the more I didn't see it as work. It consumed my time but it replaced menial, unimportant, and sometimes even spiritually destructive tasks. The more the summer went on and the stress, both physically and spiritually, began to take its toll, the more I found that I not only wanted to be able to recall passages but needed to.
       As far as being obligatory, well I cant argue with that one. Anybody who has spent any significant amount of time reading the Bible can attest to the emphasis put on the need for studying and meditating on scripture. Examples of this are in Psalm 1:1-3, Psalm 119:11, Joshua 1:8, Deuteronomy 11:18, Colossians 3:16, Philippians 4:8 etc. Honestly I could go on for days like this. The point is, as Christians we are commanded to dedicate ourselves to learning and living out Gods word. But we all already know that were supposed to memorize verses, and I'm not here to beat that horse. Its been dead for a while. Instead I want to talk about the results of making the commitment to live out Psalm 119:11. The practical application. The real motivation for setting goals like this.
       The results, as it happens, are astounding. The more I memorized the more I seemed to find purpose in the tasks I completed and the relationships I built. I encountered a unique joy, a powerful comfort, and an unmatched wisdom. Paul's words in Philippians seemed to speak into every aspect of my life to the point where I'm almost certain those who worked with me grew tired of hearing "oh yeah that reminds me of this verse...". Being so constantly plugged into scripture changed the way I thought about myself, about others and about God. I felt the effects of Hebrews 4:12 quite literally as my thoughts and attitudes were picked to pieces and transformed bit by bit. Memorizing scripture literally rewires your brain, and as a result everything about you. Gods word changes everything. It permeates the dark corners of our lives, forcing us to come face to face with Him. It builds a conscious connection between Him and us. As is always the case with God, He is not pushing us to follow rules or check boxes. He is not a legalistic God. He is loving, and He is practical, so we can trust that there are some good reasons to step up to a task like this one. In this case, I believe He desires an intense dedication to scripture because it is our direct line to Him. Through it, and the Holy Spirit, we connect ourselves directly to the heart of God. He is the ultimate source of wisdom in our uncertainty, of joy in hardships, of endurance in our exhaustion, of comfort in our distress, and of guidance in our, well, everything. So why would we ever neglect that connection?

 Food for thought.