Do You Know It?

Big Idea: Memorizing Scripture is a beneficial discipline.
Deuteronomy 31.14 (CSB): But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it. 

Let’s go back to the days before cell phones...Bob lived in a big city, eight hours from the rest of his family. He received news that his dad had a massive heart attack and was in the hospital but was not doing well. Concerned and eager to get home, Bob hopped in his car and began driving home to see his dad and his family. He didn’t know if his dad would make it or not, so time was a factor. Obviously, Bob was distressed about his dad’s situation. He was emotional and worried. As Bob recounted this story, he noted that the Holy Spirit began to recall different Scriptures to his memory. He couldn’t read his Bible and drive, but the Holy Spirit did remind him of what he had already read and memorized.
 
Today’s verse is given in the context of God setting two choices before his people: Life and Death. While they were free to chose either, they were not free to chose the consequences. Choosing to follow God can appear to be an impossible task, but it isn’t. God has told us how to follow him by providing the Bible to us. Likewise, God told his people that they could chose life because they already had the message in their hearts and in their mouths.
 
What about you? Do you have the Word of God hidden away in your heart? The Holy Spirit cannot recall something to your mind that you have never read before. As we memorize Scripture, we are better able to better resist temptation, offer an encouraging word, and serve others.

For Reflection…
 
-Have you ever considered Scripture Memory to be important? Why or why not?
 
-Commit to memorizing Scripture. Here are some suggestions: Gal. 2.20; Phil. 3.10; Rom. 12.1-12; Matt. 28.18-20; Col. 3.17; Heb. 10.24-25
 
-Pray and thank God to help you commit Scripture to memory and recall it when it is needed.

If every Bible in the world was destroyed tomorrow, what could you contribute to recompiling the Bible?