Hiding It In Our Hearts Too
Posted by AndreaDo your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
On Sunday evenings, the girlies attend an AWANA program at a local church. The acronym AWANA is derived from 2 Timothy 2:15 and stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed. The girlies look forward to going each Sunday night because they enjoy the weekly games, crafts, and stories. JT and I love taking them to AWANA because we know they’re learning more about our wonderful Savior in a fun environment.
A few minutes before we leave for AWANA, the girlies slip into their adorable and purposeful AWANA vests. Scripture memorization is a major component of the AWANA program and the girls are eager to memorize scriptures so they can earn pins and patches to display on their vests.
Right now, Sweet Pea is working to m
emorize eight verses so she can earn a Hang Glider pin for her vest. The other week as we were standing in front of the refrigerator and studying the memory verses posted there, she posed a challenging question to me. “Mommy, how many Bible verses have you memorized?”
Thankfully, I was able to recite a few of the Bible verses I have memorized over the years, but at that moment I realized I needed to do a better job of committing God’s Word to my memory. Right then and there the Holy Spirit showed me that it would be wrong of me to insist that my daughters memorize several verses when I hadn’t or wasn’t doing the same! Isn’t it just like God to teach us a lesson via our children?
After that little encounter, I decided to make scripture memorization a priority. I headed over to Chrysalis where I knew my friend e-Mom had written an informative post about scripture memorization. There I discovered a link to the Scripture Memory Challenge taking place at Beth Moore’s Living Proof Ministries blog.
If you’d like to begin or brush up on scripture memorization, I highly recommend visiting the Living Proof blog. To help you get started, Beth Moore has posted three scripture memory tutorials full of terrific information you’ll need to memorize scripture effectively.
Why memorize scripture?
- You can use what you’ve memorized to provide an encouraging or comforting word to someone in need, including yourself (Proverbs 25:11).
- You can use what you’ve memorized to help defeat the sin in your life (Psalm 119:9).
- You can use what you’ve memorized to defeat Satan (Ephesians 6:17).
- You can use what you’ve memorized to keep your mind focused on what is holy and pure (Philippians 4:8).
- You can use what you’ve memorized to share the Gospel with others (Isaiah 55:11).
- And…you can use what you’ve memorized to show a curious child that you’re hiding God’s Word in your heart too (Psalm 119:11 )!
Tags: AWANA, Beth Moore, Bible memory verse, Living Proof Ministries
I, too, have been convicted of needing to memorize Scripture. I recently bought Songs for Saplings (can find it at http://www.songsforsaplings.com/cd_songsforsaps.php) that I found for my 2 yo son to listen to. It sets simple Scripture to song for memorization. He is already singing two of them and I have memorized them as well so when I am changing him, we sing them together. It is a wonderful privilege to share the Word with him.
Tara, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll be heading over to check out Songs for Saplings this evening. Sounds like it may make a good Christmas gift. I’m always happy to add something new to our listening list.
Have you heard of The Memory Bible by Stephen Elkins? It offers 2 CDs with an alphabetical listing of Bible verses and songs. It also comes with a large story book. Kirk Cameron narrates. It’s one of our favorites things to listen to.
http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Bible-Sure-Fire-Learn-Verses/dp/1591450632
Perhaps you and your little one will enjoy that too. By the way, I love your avatar…he’s absolutely adorable!