Getting the Bible Under Your Skin

We’ve all read “Blessed is the one ... whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2). That sounds great. We want to be “blessed”. Meditating on God’s word day and night sounds wonderful. The only problem is ... actually doing that. Are we supposed to walk around with a Bible in our hand all day long?

Wouldn’t it be great if we could download the Bible into our heads like they do in The Matrix? Alas, that is not an option. We’ll have to settle for the analog version: Memorizing it one line at a time.

People have always harped on us about memorizing scriptures, and we can all rattle off a few, but I want to encourage you about two things:
1) There is great benefit in memorizing more and longer passages.
2) It’s not as hard as you think. (That’s not to say it’s easy. Few worthwhile things are easy. It’s just not as hard as you think.)

Today I want to focus on that “great benefit.” One benefit is that you can more easily meditate on the scriptures.

I remember a TV character on some show talking about his mom’s photographic memory: “She memorizes a book then reads it later.” We can do that too (just slower).

When you have scriptures stored in your head, you can pull them out whenever you have a quiet moment. Washing dishes? Recite your memorized passages. Waiting in line? Run through one or two passages. Using the restroom? Don’t laugh — what else were you doing to do?

Why would you want to go to the trouble of reciting memorized scriptures to yourself? Because this is how they seep into your bones. And the more you do it, the more they start interacting with each other, arranging themselves in your head. They can form little sermons behind your eyes.

Allow me to demonstrate. This is what happened when some passages started bouncing off each other in my head.

“When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Tit 3:4-7).

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Tit 2:11-14).

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly affection; and to brotherly affection, love. +

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1Cor 13:4-6).

+ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2Pet 1:5-8).

While I was washing dishes, those passages insisted on chaining themselves together, complete with 1Corinthians 13 inserting itself in the middle of the 2Peter passage. And it’s not a bad little devotional, giving me a lot to chew on. While I’m washing the dishes. A very mundane task transformed into a spiritual experience because of the scriptures stored in my creaky head.

Memorized passages can also pop up and, ahem, address sin. Psalm 139 is a very comforting passage. It’s beautiful to remember, “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD” (v4). Until it pops into your head and you’re not so proud of the word that was just on your tongue.

Or they can guide your conduct. Say you’ve realized you made a very unwise promise. You’d like to back out, but you remember “LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?... [He] who keeps his oath even when it hurts ...” (Psalm 15:1, 4). Ouch. But now you know what to do.

Memorizing passages out of the Bible isn’t magic, but if your goal is to know God more and be more like Jesus, this can help you reach it.

Getting the scriptures into your memory gets them under your skin. They can comfort you, convict you, and change you. Does it take some work? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely.


Do you have a story of a passage you've memorized popping into your head at a useful time? If so, please share it below.


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