The Memory Verse
The memory verse a was an integral part of our Sunday School curriculum as kids. Ours was to memorize the verse for the day, keep it in our hearts and minds all week so that we could repeat it to the teacher the following Sunday. Sunday school teachers came up with many strategies to help us kids memorize the verse in class, usually at the end of the lesson of the day and just before class ended. Sometimes they would write them on different flash cards and help us memorize in bits and pieces, or write the whole verse of the board, let us read it a few times and start rubbing off portions of the verse till it was all gone by which time we would have it firmly locked in our memories. We had to recall it at home all week because no-one wanted to be called upon the next Sunday to say the memory verse and draw a blank! We would also have memory verse quizzes and knowing this we always made sure our Bible verses were at the forefront of our minds. This practice helped a lot, so much so that by the time we graduated to the adult church we knew so many scriptures beyond John 3:16 and Genesis 1:1. Not only that, memorizing Bible verses would have become a habit by then.
I know these days, thanks to smart phones, we can Google any verse we need with the click of fingers. No need to know where in the Bible the verse you want is, you just need to know a few words, put them in the search engine and voilà! the verse will appear in all the multiple versions we have of the Bible today. If the verse is found in more than one book or chapter, you can will all of them right on your screen. Sad to say, because of this, most people no longer memorize Bible verses.
In Deuteronomy 6, Moses issued final instructions to the Israelites as they prepared to possess the Promised Land. In verse 8, he said concerning the word of God , “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” In other words keep the Lord’s commandments close, closer than anything else. I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that if that is the case then you are all set for after all what is closer to you then your smart phone right? Well, your memory is closer.
I cannot tell you the importance of memorizing Bible verses. David caught this revelation when he said in Psalm 119:11 “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” Keeping Bible verses in your heart (mind) helps you stay of trouble for in times when the enemy tempts you like he did our Lord in the wilderness you will have a verse to counter his lies and tricks. Three times the devil tempted Jesus, even quoting scripture to support his diabolic move. Three times, Jesus responded by quoting scripture. If it were you, would you have had any to quote? And would it have been the appropriate ones?
Memorizing scripture helps you stand against the wiles of the enemy; knowing scripture gives you comfort in times of trouble, great need or difficulty. Many of us faint in times of adversity or fail when tempted because we know no scripture to help or support us. I know your smart phone is always with you, it is joined to your hip, it is your life and you have the bible app on it. However there will be times when you need to recall a scripture to get you out of a jam and you do not have the strength or the time to hit Google or the Bible app. Oh and your phone might be dead with no charger or outlet in sight. In such times you will be glad you memorized that verse.
Blessings.
Love, Lady Monica