How much do you remember?
Can you finish this verse: “For God so loved…”? (John 3:16) How about this one: “In the beginning God…”? (Gen 1:1). Nice work. Now try this: “Only let your manner of life be…” (Phil1:27) A bit harder?
How much of the Bible do we really know off by heart? In her book, “A Call To Scripture Memory”, Susan Heck talks about a woman named Frances Havergal. Not only did she write the hymn “Take my Life and Let it Be”, but when she was a teenager, she memorised the entire New Testament, the Psalms and Isaiah. By the time she had died, she'd memorised 12935 verses of the Bible! That's over 40 per cent!
Why Memorise?
But these days, why should we memorise large chunks of the Bible? What's the point when I have numerous Bibles (in multiple translations) just sitting around my house I could pick up? Or when I could just open the app on my phone and read away? Or just go online and read it there?
There's many reasons why memorising the Bible is important. Memorising those Sunday School bible verses is great, but if you can commit a whole chunk to memory, that's even better. One of the main reasons is that to memorise, you must first understand the logic of passage. You've got to know what comes next — and why. This helps us to understand the flow of the argument in a passage. For example, in Philippians, Paul speaks about how Jesus will “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body“ (Phil 3:21). In the next verse he tells the Philippians to “stand firm in the Lord in this way” (Phil 4:1). So why should we stand firm? Because Jesus Christ will soon transform our bodies to become like his! You see, when we memorise, we're forced to make these logical links between verses so we know what comes next when we recite it. This makes us understand the passage better.
Why Else?
Having an arsenal of Biblical text in your brain will also help you out during times of temptation (remember Jesus quoting scripture in the desert?). It also helps when your friends ask you questions about God or Christianity or when they need encouragement and advice. Memorising passages also means you can “read” a whole book of the Bible in your head when you're alone and have no Bible with you. Forgetting your Bible isn't as big a deal when you have a whole chunk of it in your mind already.
But How?
Ok, memorising some serious Bible is good. But how do I go about it? I believe that memorisation is a lot easier than we expect (think of all the song lyrics and movie lines you know!). It just takes persistence and consistency. This article on 16 games to memorise the Bible provides a list of ideas on how to memorise. But the best way to memorise a whole chapter or book is: practice, practice, practice! Print out the passage, break it into small sections of a few verses each, and tackle a section a week. Carry the print-out wherever you go and read it over. Then try to start remembering each sentence. If you're up for the challenge, take the time to memorise a book like Ephesians or Philippians, or a passage like the 'sermon on the mount' (Matthew 5-7). It’ll take a while (probably at least six months!) but it can be done, and it’s worth it!
Be Careful
Be warned: “knowledge puffs up”! (1 Cor 8:1). The point of memorising the Bible isn't so you know more than those around you, or can show off by reciting it. It's for your own spiritual growth and in fact, your dedication to it is an act of worship. Never memorise out of pride, or to gain the praise of others, or to make yourself feel as if God will approve of you more. Memorise to grow closer to Christ and to know him more and more.
So what are you waiting for? Start memorising the word of God!