The Bible is a library written by God through men that tells a unified story that leads to Jesus. And as God’s people, we want to be guided by His Word and empowered by His Spirit to more fully experience the life and love of Jesus.
Long before Scripture was mass-produced for everyone to have access to, memorizing God’s Word was one of the primary ways His people meditated on His Word.
Psalm 1 talks about the person who is blessed because they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. Because God’s people didn’t necessarily have personal access to Scripture, the main way they were able to meditate day and night on Scripture was through memorization. Look at Psalm 119:11, where the Psalmist says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” So how exactly do you hide God’s Word into your heart when you don’t have your own personal Bible? Again it’s through memorizing Scripture. When we do, according to that verse, we actually are more empowered to follow Jesus because His very words are at the forefront of our minds.
In the Old Testament, God’s people would generally have large chunks, if not whole books, devoted to memory. If you’re just starting out, start small. Here’s some ideas on what verses to have memorized:
What is the Gospel - John 3:16, Romans 3:23-24, Ephesians 2:1-10
Why the Gospel is good news for you - Matthew 3:16, Romans 8:1, Psalm 23
A command or a promise you need to remember - 1 John 1:9, 1 Cor 10:13
Once you know the verse you want to memorize, how do you do it? A lot of great apps are out there, such as Fighter Verses and Bible Memory. If you want to go low-tech though and prefer not to be on your phone, try writing out the verse by hand a few times over each day. When you do, you engage your body and your mind together, allowing the verse to stick in your mind more quickly. If you want to go really old-school, God’s people for the longest time remembered things through oral tradition, so try spending a few minutes saying those verses out loud.
The beautiful thing is we can do it together with church family. Share ideas about what works best for you or what verses you’re committing to memory. Keep one another accountable. If you have kids, make it fun. Try putting these verses to melody to help sink into your minds. If you do a quick search online, you’ll find lots of recordings of people putting God’s Word to music.
The main thing: find whatever method works best for you and stick with it. Put a reminder on your phone to spend a few minutes each day. As we expand and push our minds to retain more of His Word, we in turn are more freed up to experience God’s goodness and love in our lives.