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Memorize The Word
September 16th 2008 (2) comments so far
Breakfast stayed with me today. Not the food—I enjoy the eggs at Corner Bakery. But the conversation—it’s still leaving its aftertastes.
I enjoyed breakfast with Scott Erwin. You probably don’t know him. I didn’t until today. Scott is a former professional golfer who played the PGA tour. He’s golfed all around the world. While working as a pro, God got hold of his heart. He was later mentored by a former board member of Dallas Seminary who introduced him to Bible memorization. He now has hundreds of verses memorized, word for word. He uses the verses in his conversations as a regular guy in the marketplace.
Scott’s example got to me more than my menu items. It reminded me how powerful memorization is for our spiritual walk. It also convicted me because I’m not very good at it. I don’t know about you, but it’s one of my weaker spiritual disciplines.
One of my favorite biblical characters is Ezra. I like him because he had a passion for the Word of God. If you don’t know him, let me introduce him. When we first meet him in the Bible, he was the priest of the folks who returned to Israel from Babylon. His great-great-grandfather, Hilkiah, was the guy who found the lost copy of the Scriptures in the temple rubbish years before. Like him, Ezra developed a passion for the Word (Ezra 7:10). By his middle adult years, people knew him as the “Bible guy”—that’s my term for it. The king of Babylon called him an expert in matters of God’s commandments (Ezra 7:11-12). Ezra knew the Scriptures like the back of his hand.
Sitting at Corner Bakery with Scott, he became a modern Ezra at that moment. And I must admit, it’s convicting. I decided that I am going to try to get a few more passages memorized—four or five, so that I start with a smaller plate. But that’s better than nothing.
I’m wondering how we can encourage each other to memorize the Word more in our lives. If you’re in an adult fellowship, how can we impact our friends with the memorized Word? How can we encourage our kids? How can we build Scripture memorization into our own regular practice? I’m wondering how many of us benefit from the practice already. And I’m thinking that we could have a lot more Ezras and Scotts that way. Think about it.
charlotte hill October 20th at 7:45 am
hallo pastor swindoll I really enjoy all your preaching and your funny jokes that makes my family laugh. thank you for breaking the word of God to the people out in the world.
Sue Miller September 11th at 9:27 am
Charlton,
I appreciated reading the story of the Still, Small Voice of Mary Whipple leading the rowing team in the 2008 Olympics. I’d never heard of her, but I thought you made such a valid point in relating the story. Trust is so powerful – and commands such marvelous behaviors from others. Our own trustworthiness, therefore, is what we need to work on everyday. As as Christians, trusting our Savior’s voice is our ultimate challenge on a daily basis. Thanks for sharing and reminding!