It’s a Hiding Matter
My dear friend just recently became a widow. I was inspired by her at church on Sunday. When a few of us gathered around her to offer our love, she remarked: “I’m memorizing this scripture – Psalm 62:5-7 — “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress; I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge.”
This new widow precisely knows the fast track to living in the peace and comfort of God. She is hiding God’s Word in her heart.
I’m ever grateful for my upbringing in church because that’s where I received the “solid rock” foundation for my life. My parents were wise in that “church” was our “go to” place for friendships, worshiping God, and hearing His Word. And it was also, in my opinion – the best place EVER to hang out with my girlfriends and check out the “new guy” that was coming to church! Church was where I met the love of my life at age 12. It started a life-long romance.
It was at church where I was taught the “treasure” of reading God’s Word, the Bible, which contains Holy Scriptures — the sacred writings of the Old and New Testaments. From my earliest years, I was taught to “hide God’s Word in my heart so that I wouldn’t sin against God” by memorizing scriptures (Psalm 119:11).
In Sunday School and VBS, we were incentivized memorizing scripture. And those times paid off well for me. To this day, those scriptures are still embedded in my heart, and at a moment’s notice of weakness, temptation, concern, etc., one of those scriptures I learned, will pop up on the screen of my mind and I’ll give the enemy “what for” by quoting it to him. The enemy’s voice says: “You are afraid to do that!” God’s voice from His Word and in my heart says: “God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
We have the BEST role model – Jesus. He quoted SCRIPTURE to the enemy when he said to Jesus, (Matthew 4:3-4) “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But Jesus answered from Deuteronomy 8:3, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
Maybe you weren’t raised the way I was, but it’s never too late to start memorizing some of those “life-line” scriptures. I know. You don’t have time. Your memory isn’t what it used to be. You tried before and gave up. You think it’s too hard. I get it. Totally. Still, here’s what the Bible says: “Keep my words and store up my commands within you.” (Proverbs 7:1) Keep and store. That’s memorizing Scripture in a nutshell. You can do this, and it’s so worth it.
The benefits of having His Word in your heart? Huge. Someday, we may not have access to the Bible. What happens if we lost our sight, our hearing or even our Bible? I remember holocaust survivor, Corrie Ten Boom’s remarkable story and her witness of the power of memorized scripture while she was in captivity. It was her lifeline. Literally.
Knowing/Memorizing scriptures enables us to share God’s truth with confidence. We’re able to refer to a scripture to a hurting friend. If we don’t know scripture, we’ll only be giving our opinion. Plus, when temptation knocks on our door, the verses we’ve memorized will come to our rescue. Countless times God’s Word has stopped me in my tracks before I veered down the wrong path.
We can take the fast track to memorize scriptures by having the Bible app on our cell phone, our laptop, and our bookshelf. But where it makes the most difference? Right here – hidden in our hearts!