If I were to ask a random churchgoer to memorize a passage of the Bible, I know what kind of responses I’d get. I know what kind of responses I’ve gotten.
“Brother,” they’ll tell me, “I’m old. I’m not good at reciting Bible verses. There’s not a lot of room left up there.” I’ll chuckle, of course. They’ll only tell me I don’t know what it’s like to be older.
If they’re younger, they’ll say something about their short attention span. They can barely remember what they had for breakfast, much less remember an entire passage of scripture. They’ll assure me they’ll find the time when they’re older, or, you know, less busy.
What’s funny is I can ask someone to sing a fifty-year-old song and they’ll have no problem doing that. Ask about that one playoff game and I’ll hear names, stats and everything else in between.
We should give ourselves more credit.
We’re better at remembering things than we realize. Now, I’m not suggesting the book of Numbers, for example, stirs the same kinds of emotions your favorite song might. And there are monumental moments in sports that stand out in our minds.
Plus, I don’t quite want to compare God’s commandments to games and pop music.
But I do want us to remember God’s commandments. As much I as do and as much as I want you to, please believe God wants you to more.
When Jesus told us what the greatest commandment was, most likely he was thinking of Deuteronomy 6. That would not have been unusual. Loving God with all your heart was not a far-out idea at all. Anyone would have said that was the greatest commandment. That theme gets repeated.
In Deuteronomy 11 we read a similar chorus. Love God enough to recall the Lord’s commandments. Do whatever you have to do to remember. And teach them to your children. Please, please teach them to your children.
I’ll never understand why that’s such an undervalued aspect of modern ministry. God gave us the most important commandment and almost immediately told us to ensure we teach it to our children. To God, teaching children is not an afterthought.
The command about commands in Deuteronomy 11 is to “put these words of mine in your heart and soul.” That isn’t a cursory review of the Bible. That’s a willingness to ingest scripture into your very essence.
How do you do that?
However you can.
For the Jews, it was through tefillin and mezuzah. These were constant reminders worn by faithful people of God.
How do you remember God’s commandments? What tools do you use to recall passages of scripture? There’s no shortage of apps or reading programs. I encourage my church to memorize one verse of the Bible every week. That’s a low-level approach that’s easy to begin.
God wants us to know peace and wholeness. We do that through learning, sharing and living out God’s commands. Don’t just listen to someone like me talk about the Bible. Do all you can to connect scripture to your very being.
Stay blessed…john
