Remember That?

Have you ever asked, or do you ever get asked: "Remember?" We all have, as it is a common conversational question when talking about the past. Sometimes, like during a test in a class at school, we might even have asked ourself the question(repeatedly) trying to recall some covered material that had been previously considered not relevant...oh wait, now I remember, that was me (I'll bet I am not alone though).

What about memorizing things? We all memorize what is most important, yes? Our phone numbers, addresses, important places we visit regularly, etc. We memorize them so that when we need the information we have it at hand. Unfortunately, with advancing technology we no longer have to memorize as much as we used to. Information that was normally hard to find, we either memorized or looked it up at a later time. Now we simply "google" something, and can look up almost anything instantaneously! I believe this is both good and bad.

Since we have the ability to access information instantly at the touch of a few buttons, we no longer have the need to memorize some information. Like phone numbers - I don't memorize them because my phone has them, but what happens when we lose our phone? We are totally lost! I am not saying technology is bad, but when it stops us from utilizing our God-given ability to memorize information, I think we are cheating ourselves. Think about it for a minute, and consider what is stored in your memory bank. David (of David and Goliath fame) spoke to what he stored in his:

"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." Ps. 119:11

Seeing as one can't really store anything in one's heart, we can safely say that David was referring to his memory. David stored up God's Word in his head, so that when he needed to focus his thoughts or needed a reference for a decision, he would have it in his memory. Albeit, David had a selective memory a couple of times, and failed to pull from God's Word in making a few key decisions, he still finished well, and is known as a man after God's own heart.

Memorizing God's Word affords us information we can call upon when we need it and are without the immediate ability to read it or look it up. Were you aware that in Scripture, Jesus quoted from 24 different Old Testament books roughly some 180 times? I would say this suggests that memorizing Scripture is useful.

What we fill our heads with matters, and it has nothing to do with capability or quantity. As a matter of fact, instead of trying to remember the most, give it a shot and start memorizing what matters most - and I am willing to bet you will use it more than you might think.

In His grip,

Pastor Pat