Store Up

Ps. 119:11 is a verse i memorized a number of years ago with my children.  NIV84 says "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You."  Wonderful verse! And we are to hide His Word in our heart.

Last night I was reading Ps. 119 in the ESV. That version says "I have stored up Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You."

The point is the same.. we need to be learning.. memorizing.. God's Word. But I really love the ESV wording.. "Stored Up"  It is a picture of preparation.. of making ready.  

And we don't wait until the panic moment to grab Words and hastily try to learn them, we store up during the "good" times. Proverbs 6:6&8 points the lazy sluggard to look at the ways of the ant. I think the ant's ways apply to learning Scripture and this thought of storing up..

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise....
7 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

Prepares her bread... the Word is our daily bread.  I picture us preparing it by being in it.. reading.. studying..learning it..

And gathers her food... She is storing up during the time of plenty to be ready for lean times.. difficulties.. 

We need to be preparing.. to be in the Word daily, reading it.. studying it.. learning it.. and we need to be gathering it up.. storing it in our hearts knowing we will have it  for the battle we do each and every day with our flesh, the World and an enemy who is relentless in His pursuit.

Scripture Memory

Most folks run at the mention of memorizing Scripture... that is, after all, something for kids in Sunday School, right? No.. not at all!  We are never too young or too old to learn Scripture. Yes, as we age it might take us longer to learn a verse or passage, but we are still able to learn.  One of the things I have come to realize through memorizing Scriptures is that the process of learning the verse is as beneficial as the learning of it.  By reading the verse over and over... taking it apart... I find myself meditating on it.. thinking about the words and what they mean to my life.  I often don't just memorize the verse,  God writes it on my heart.

I recently started reading a wonderful book by Robert J. Morgan (one of my favorite authors).  100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know By Heart.  I am posting the verses on the side bar here as I learn them.  (The other Scripture memory there are the verses our church learns together each week.) Some are old favorites / standards, so it is more review than learn.  I admit that I purchased the book mainly out of curiosity. I wondered what verses he thought were important to know.  And while I did find his list, I found much more. The first half of the book talks about Scripture Memorization.. the benefits, how-to etc.  And for each of the verses, he provides a bit of study, something to help glue the verse to your brain and heart.  Again, going for something other than rote memorization.  I highly recommend this book. I feel certain I will share things from it in the weeks ahead.

In the meantime, dive in and start learning Scripture... Ps. 119:11 says "Thy Word have I hidden in my heart that I might now sin against Thee."  Want to sin less and live the holy life has called you to live? Learn Scripture!  It is also how we are ready in and out of season... how we consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds.. where we find the words to say to a hurting friend... and so much more.  Think of it this way.. Jesus is THE WORD.. so when you spend time learning the Word, you are learning about (and with) Jesus.  And when you hide the Word in your heart, you are in a way putting Jesus there. Yes, as a believer the Holy Spirit already indwells you being, but this is progressive sanctification... becoming more like Jesus every day.