Receiving The WordBeispiel

Memorize the Word. Another way to read the Word is to memorize it. The psalmist says in Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have treasured in my heart.” There’s no greater exercise than to memorize Scripture. If you have never done it before, start with a verse a week. At the end of a year, you’ll have fifty-two verses in your memory bank. The purpose of memorizing Scripture is not so you can win a contest or a prize. God’s concern is that you have the Word in your heart so that you have it ready to use in any situation. Why is that important? Because the Word of God is “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). It’s the Word that the Holy Spirit uses to help you when tough times come. But if you don’t have the Word in your heart and mind, the Holy Spirit has no sword to pull out and wield. The best example of the value of knowing Scripture is Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus answered Satan each time, “It is written.” Jesus didn’t open a copy of the Old Testament and show Satan the verse. He simply responded out of what was in His heart. I can’t tell you how many times God has brought His Word to my mind to show me which way I should go. That’s the way the Holy Spirit works. He illumines our minds with the Word so that we can see what we ought to do. But we must first be diligent to put the Word into our minds.