Eating the Word

The bits of cardboard scribbled with the words of scripture lay scattered on the coffee table—the

Lynn with her dad

coffee table that was just the right height for baby Lynn to practice her new walking skills.

As she walked her pudgy baby hands reached out for the scripture memory cards. And like any good baby, she immediately employed her sense of taste to learn about them. Ummmm good!

We, the observing adults laughed and encouraged—the walking, not the tasting. And in that moment, God reminded …

“When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies.” Jeremiah 15:16, The New Living Translation

(Originally memorized in NASV)

Lynn is in her forties now. Those memorized words have been bouncing around my head all those years. Often I’ve thought of eating (taking in, meditating on, digesting) the word and how that guides, encourages, instructs my days. And yet I’ve let the discipline slide. 

But it was just a few weeks ago that I received a very needed scripture memory booster shot. It wasn’t painful but it was challenging. Thank you, Dan! As Dan and Trisha and Bill and I exchanged grandparent stories, Dan consistently shared the scriptures he was memorizing with their GRANDS; not only the verses but the passages. (Last Christmas all their GRANDS—ages 4-10—memorized Isaiah 12).

Last summer I came across this excerpt from a letter to Dietrich Bonhoeffer …

“He (Bonhoeffer) received a letter from one Finkenwaldian (one of his students at Finkenwald) who had resisted meditating on the biblical texts. But in the midst of war, he told Bonhoeffer that he kept up the practice on his own. When it was too difficult to meditate on the verses he simply memorized them, which had a similar effect. He said that just as Bonhoeffer had always told them, the verses “opened out at an unexpected depth. One has to live with the texts, and then they unfold.” Bonhoeffer, by Eric Metaxas, page 384.

Back to Jeremiah 15:16. I’ve been living with those words for a long time. Yet it was recently that they began to unfold for me. I spent time reading the words around Jeremiah 15:16 and realized Jeremiah is complaining to God and this chapter records their conversation. And in the midst Jeremiah says, “your words were found …” 

Perspective changes; God’s intimate involvement in my life is real again. Not only did God’s word speak to Jeremiah, they spoke truth, comfort, and wisdom to my heart as well. When I meditate on the word, it becomes a joy because of my identity. I am called by his name! 

When the word is not my joy, I need to glance back. Am I meditating? Am I assured of my identity? Over and over God declares his love for me. I need to trust it.

Dan’s encouragement came at the right time. Here is my newest Bible memory card. I’m learning that a bit of color and a few shapes all help the memory process. And I’ll take the all the help I can get!

Have you ever memorized scripture? What are your success helps? What was the first verse you ever memorize? (John 1:12 was mine) Why did you memorize it? How old were you?

Is on-line help encouraging to you? Check out www.memverse.com. 

GRAND-son, Judah

Children memorize easily. Four year old Judah loves quoting his reservoir of scriptures to me. And I love listening. 

When our boys were in elementary school, my husband and I published a Bible memory program for children, Well-Versed Kids,  published by Navpress in 1988. It is still being used today. Recently the ownership has returned to us. Would you like a copy? Let me know. 

“But he answered, “It is written, “ ’Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ “ Matthew 4:4