Houston, we have a problem: adults are not memorizing the Bible.
Not like we should, anyway.
I don't know about you but I struggle in committing Scripture to memory.
When I was a kid, it was much easier to memorize the Bible. Awana was a great experience.
But time is not kind to our brains.
Or is it that we adults have allowed too much data clutter on our hard drives?
Either way, we don't memorize the Bible—at least not much.
I've taken survey after informal survey and the results rarely vary. “When I was younger I used to memorize…but not so much anymore.”
But how have we dismissed Scripture memory? On what basis have we jettisoned all sense of accountability–all legitimate guilt? Last time I checked, there wasn't even a hint of age restrictions in the admonition, “Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you.” And how could the Psalmist claim, “I meditate on your law day and night” unless he had memorized a good portion of it?
Folks, this is not an incidental problem, a minor issue. It's huge. I think it strikes at the core of why the Church is so much like the world. It's part of the reason we divorce so much… part of the reason we're able to look at on line porno with virtual impunity. We have not embedded sufficient quantities of Scripture to point our moral compass toward true North.
You know what my conclusion is?
We don't memorize because we don't want to memorize.
Okay, so memorizing for adults is hard. So what! Too bad!
Were you and I called to a life of ease? Is personal comfort our measuring stick?
The truth is, it IS harder. But it's NOT impossible. My own struggle—and the struggles of countless others—proves it CAN be done. It just takes a little more time and a lot more effort.
Shouldn't “denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily” possibly include doing the hard work of Bible memorization?
It's time to stop making excuses.
It's time to start memorizing the Word.